Carli is a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in the Neuroscience curriculum. Before coming to UNC for graduate studies, Carli received a B.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biology at California State University, Northridge. She worked with Dr. Randy Cohen studying the neurodegeneration of Purkinje cells from excitotoxicity by GABA receptor activation in an ataxic rat model. After graduating in May 2015, Carli joined Dr. Daniel Geschwind’s lab at UCLA as a staff research associate where she investigated the effects of overexpression of specific genes known to be involved in neurogenesis such as NGN2, FGFR2, and SOX5 in primary human neural progenitor cells. Now in Todd Cohen’s lab at UNC Chapel Hill, Carli is evaluating the role of a particular post translational modification, tau cleavage by caspases, and its implications to Alzheimer’s disease. Outside of the lab, she enjoys baking, hanging out with her cat, running, eating cheese and making craft cocktails.