She received her medical degree from the University of Massachusetts, completed internship and residency in the Department of Medicine on the Osler Service at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and completed her Oncology fellowship at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She also obtained her MBA in the Business of Health from the Carey Business School at Johns Hopkins. She has been on faculty in the Department of Hematological Malignancies since 2005. She is a translational clinical scientist, with a research focus on experimental therapeutics of acute leukemias, including using novel biological agents (such as epigenetic agents) for adults with acute leukemias as well as new approaches to the treatment of refractory acute leukemias. She is an active participant in ECOG/SWOG/CALGB studies for adult lymphocytic leukemia.