email: nls67[at]cornell.edu
Obesity is a known risk factor for the development of hormone-receptor positive breast cancer in postmenopausal women. Additionally, obesity is considered to be a chronic subclinical inflammatory state. I am interested in the role of chronic in-breast inflammation in the development of breast cancer. Particularly, I am investigating how physical properties of the microenvironment in the lean and obese state influence macrophage function and macrophage interactions with other cell types such as adipocytes and tumor cells.
I earned my doctor of veterinary medicine (DVM) degree from Kansas State University. Prior to joining the Fischbach Laboratory, I completed a companion animal medicine and surgery internship at Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine and a clinical pathology residency at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. In my free time I enjoy being a volunteer dog walker at Tompkins County SPCA and a foster home for Pointer Rescue Organization.
