Katie grew up in Menomonie, Wisconsin and graduated from St. Catherine University with a BA in Biology and a minor in French in 2016. She earned her PhD in Cellular and Molecular Pathology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2023 in Dr. Federico Rey and Dr. Tyler Ulland’s labs where she studied how the gut microbiome influences Alzheimer’s disease using both human samples and transgenic mice as a model system. Now as a postdoc in Dr. Ashutosh Mangalam’s lab with mentorship from Dr. Sukirth Ganesan, Katie’s research focuses on examining how both the oral and gut microbiomes influence Multiple Sclerosis using in vitro, in vivo, and clinical approaches, with an emphasis on sex differences. Her goal is to become a professor at a mid-sized institution emphasizing mentoring and teaching.