In my free time I like painting, running, and trying new foods. I’m also a sucker for travel, coffee, and a good book.
Amanda is a research technician in the Suvorova lab.
Growing up I had an innate love for science through my father, an Army nurse. Because of him, I’ve known since I was 10 that I wanted to do something with science.
Earning my Bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience from Boston University (BU), I spent my first year in college working in a Biochemistry stockroom. I switched gears to join Dr. Steve Ramirez’s lab at BU. I was amazed by his work studying anxiety and PTSD through animal models and optogenetics (a light technology for tagging and replaying memories). I worked in his lab for 4 years with postdoctoral fellow Dr. Stephanie Grella studying memory.
COVID came and I graduated virtually. But I was excited once more to learn science at the genetic level here at USF in Dr. Elena Suvorova’s laboratory. I was drawn to the emphasis on positivity and interpersonal skills, while allowing me to apply my prior experiences to a completely different field – genetics and infectious disease.
I’ll have another bittersweet exit soon – I’m attending the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences to earn an M.D. and serve as a U.S. Army Officer.
The Suvorova Lab 