Kaitlyn graduated from Angelo State University in May of 2022 with a B.S. in Psychology and minor in Biology, summa cum laude, at the age of 19. While she initially began her degree with the intention of moving into counseling psychology, her coursework for minor led her to consider the interface between psychology and biology. She began volunteering with the former Masters program in Experimental Psychology, where she assisted in testing the effects of Hericium erinaceous, a mushroom, on a tau-pathology Alzheimer's mouse model. Upon graduating, she accepted a Research Technologist position at Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery. She quickly took on the responsibilities of the role, playing a crucial role in a variety of projects for experimental small molecule inhibitors aimed at enzymes implicated in both central and peripheral nervous system illnesses, such as Alzheimer's disease, age-related muscle atrophy and peripheral nerve injury, HIV-associated sleep disorders, and more. In 2024, Kaitlyn joined the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program whereby she hopes to join the Neuroscience PhD program at the end of her first year. Here, she plans to focus on neurodevelopment from either a genetic, cellular, or molecular mechanism, aiming to understand what factors may negatively impact development, both biologically and environmentally. Outside the lab, Kaitlyn loves to read, run, bake/cook, take and edit photos, and camp with her friends.