She also serves as the current chair of the Public Policy Committee of the American Society of Animal Science. She has broad, multidisciplinary interest in the role of animal agriculture and biotechnology for food and nutritional security. Her current research interests include genetic parameters that regulate or determine aspects of beef quality, skeletal muscle traits, and developmental processes. She completed B.S. and M.S. degrees in Biology and Cytogenetics, respectively, at Purdue University, and a Ph.D. in the interdisciplinary program in Genetics at Texas A&M University. She conducted postdoctoral research at NASA L.B. Johnson Space Center, and later, the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, prior to returning to Texas A&M University as a faculty member.