I’m Natalee, the current lab manager for the Oviedo Lab. I recently graduated with my PhD in Molecular, Cellular, and Systemic Physiolgy from the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. My dissertation work focused on how one-sided tooth loss changes the naked mole-rat brain in a side-specific fashion. Now, I’m working with the lab to study how different sides of the auditory cortex have specialized functions that arise during development. My goal is to help the lab and all of its members achieve their goals by aiding in training, experimental design, and personal growth.

Outside of my work in the lab, I’m a certified human anatomy instructor and welcome any opportunity to show students the intricacies of the human body through dissection. In my free time, I volunteer with local science outreach groups, alpaca farms, and the Alpha Chi Sigma chemistry fraternity. Lastly, the things that have stolen my heart are my cat, my dog, thrift shops, antique stores, coffee, and any animal that is so ugly it actually looks kind of cute (i.e, naked mole-rats)