I did my undergraduate studies in Biology and Psychology at Bowdoin College in Brunswick Maine. At the time, there were only a handful of neuroscience programs in the country and I was lucky to be accepted to the new Neuroscience Program offered by Oregon Health & Science University and received my PhD in 1995. After a postdoctoral fellowship as a Human Frontiers Fellow in Sydney Australia, I returned to OHSU to do a second postdoctoral fellowship. I then moved to a faculty position at Washington State University Vancouver as a Clinical Assistant Professor. After promoting to Clinical Associate Professor and 7 years of teaching in an undergraduate institution, I realized that research was my passion and I returned to OHSU as an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery. I was promoted to Professor with tenure in 2018. I accepted the Traystman Endowed Vice-Chair of Research in the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in 2022. Throughout my career I have been an advocate for students and trainees. I organized an inclusive mentoring program at ASPET for students and postdoctoral fellows built on CIMER training. I have served as a facilitator for the ASPET Mentoring Network for the past 10 years. I bring CIMER training ideals to the laboratory, my department and the Neuroscience Graduate Program.