She obtained her BS in chemistry from George Mason University (1998), and received her PhD in physical chemistry from the Georgia Institute of Technology under the direction of Prof. Mostafa El-Sayed (2003). She performed postdoctoral research under the direction of Prof. Geraldine Richmond at the University of Oregon (2003-2004), and performed an NIH postdoctoral fellowship under the direction of Prof. Paul Barbara at the University of Texas at Austin (2004-2006). She joined the faculty of the University of Houston (2006) and later Rice University (2009). Her research focuses on the relationship between dynamic complexity and function in bio- and synthetic polymers. A full list of her publications can be found here.