The premise of my research is that we can learn from animals that overcome metabolic challenges in the brain to gain overarching insights into brain diseases. In my academic trajectory, I have been studying metabolic physiology across scales of organization, from whole animals all the way down to synapses. 

Postdoctoral research: The brain requires a lot of energy to function, and if these requirements are not met, circuit dysfunction and neural death follow. Much like mammals, brain activity in American bullfrogs quickly fails in hypoxia. However, we described that after emergence from overwintering, circuits transform to function ~30-fold longer without oxygen using only anaerobic glycolysis for fuel. Following these findings, I investigate neurophysiological processes that transform brain function to maintain performance during oxygen deprivation, avoiding dysfunction and damage.