I gained expertise in protein NMR spectroscopy, biophysical, and biochemical methods to relate protein structure and dynamical motions to function in my graduate studies with Dr. John Cavanagh (North Carolina State University; 2000–2005) and postdoctoral studies with Prof. Mark Rance (University of Cincinnati; 2005– 2009). I developed an interest in nuclear receptors (NRs) at the University of Cincinnati while facilitating a collaboration with Prof. Sohaib Khan (who focused on estrogen receptors in breast cancer) and Distinguished University Prof. Elwood Jensen (whose work in the 1950s led to the discovery of the estrogen receptor). I transitioned to a second postdoctoral position with Prof. Thomas Burris (Scripps Research in Florida; 2009- 2010) where I learned chemical biology and molecular pharmacology approaches applied to NRs and collaborated with medicinal chemists in the discovery, design, testing of new synthetic NR ligands. I established my independent lab at the Scripps Research (Florida campus) in 2010 with the goal of advancing molecular and structural insight into NR function using interdisciplinary structural biology and functional approaches. In March 2023, my lab is moved to Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in the Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt Center for Structural Biology, and Vanderbilt Institute for Chemical Biology (VICB).