The primary focus of our lab is developing therapeutics and identifying biomarkers for neuromuscular and neurological pathologies. Specifically on utilization of small, naturally occurring molecules termed extracellular vesicles. Extracellular vesicles are released from most, if not all, cells in the body into the extracellular environment and contain a variety of molecular cargo (RNA, protein, microRNA, etc.). Further, extracellular vesicles deliver molecular cargo to neighboring and distant recipient cells. Our lab reverse engineers extracellular vesicles to contain therapeutic cargo, and then utilize the naturally delivery capabilities of extracellular vesicles to deliver cargo to tissues of interest. Separately, during pathological conditions cells release extracellular vesicles with a unique molecular signature and our lab examines these molecular signatures for identification of potential novel biomarkers. Research Interests: Understanding the role of EVs in physiological and pathological processes Utilizing EVs from circulation and other body fluids as biomarkers of presence of disease, progression of disease, and effectiveness of therapeutics and treatments Engineering EVs for targeted therapeutic delivery