RPA Profile

Katherine is a member of the RPA leadership board and a representative of the School of Engineering.

Professional Profile

I was born and raised in Austin, TX where I attended the University of Texas at Austin and received my bachelor's degree in Biomedical Engineering in 2016. I next moved to Atlanta, GA to complete my doctoral degree in 2021 in Biomedical Engineering in a joint program between Georgia Tech and Emory University. During my PhD under the guidance of Dr. Todd Sulchek, I studied the relationship between cancer cell mechanical properties, genetic expression, and metastatic phenotype at the single cell level and across the genome. I developed expertise in atomic force microscopy, single cell molecular techniques, gene editing and microfluidic cell sorting. In the spring of 2022, I moved to Nashville, TN to start my postdoctoral training with Dr. Cynthia Reinhart-King where I study how cell mechanical properties act as a driving force of metastasis in in vivo models of breast cancer. In the summer of 2024, our entire group moved to Rice University, bringing me back to the great state of Texas. When I am not busy in the lab, I volunteer with the Christian organization Young Life, hanging out with and mentoring local middle school, high school, and college students. I also love to travel and am a big cycling, puzzle, book and Broadway musical aficionado.