Brought up in Northern Wisconsin, Genetics was not a readily discussed topic. This changed when her nephew was born with Trisomy 21. She then went on to receive her Bachelor Degree in Genetics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, prior to entering medical school at the University of Illinois. She is the first combined pediatrics/medical genetics resident at Emory University, and is continuing her training in medical biochemical genetics at the University of Colorado this academic year.