In 2010, I earned a B.A. (Honours) degree in psychology with a specialization in behavioural neuroscience from Carleton University in Ottawa. I then spent a year working as a research assistant and lab technician for world-renowned neuroscientist Dr. Hymie Anisman.

My research interests centred on post-traumatic stress disorder and other stress-related disorders, with a focus on animal models. My honours thesis examined a drug intervention for post-traumatic stress in lab mice.

I went on to contribute to two scientific journal articles during my time working for Dr. Anisman and his post-doctoral researchers:

1. Social agonistic distress in male and female mice: changes of behaviour and monoamine functioning in relation to acute and chronic challenges (PLoS One).

2. Stressor exposure of male and female juvenile mice influences later responses to stressors: modulation of GABAA receptor subunit mRNA expression (Journal of Neuroscience).