The Greenberg lab focuses on how cytoskeletal motors function in both health and disease. Currently, the lab is studying mutations that cause familial cardiomyopathies, the leading cause of sudden cardiac death in people under 30 years old. The lab uses an array of biochemical, biophysical, and cell biological techniques to decipher how these mutations affect heart contraction from the level of single molecules to the level of engineered tissues. We are also interesting in designing new in vitro disease models. Insights into the disease pathogenesis will guide efforts to develop novel therapies.

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I have a strong commitment to training the next generation of scientists and helping them to achieve their career goals. Both of my parents and two of my siblings are teachers, so education is really a family business. I have extensive teaching experience, having taught classes from the middle school to the graduate school levels. I have organized discussion groups and journal clubs as forums for trainees to hone their communication skills. I am a member of the admissions committee for the Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology Program and the co-chair of the Postdoc Support and Recruitment Committee in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics. For my mentoring efforts, I received the Undergraduate Mentor of the Year award. Beyond my teaching and mentoring at the university, I have served as an educational consultant to MacMillian Publishing, developing content that is used to teach physics and chemistry at high schools and colleges across the country. 

The Greenberg lab is committed to providing trainees with personalized career development and support for a wide variety of career paths. We appreciate that each trainee is unique with their own set of talents, interests, strengths, and challenges. We strongly believe that tackling the problems of the future will require creativity that comes from bringing together diverse teams of individuals, where each person can draw from their unique background. We strive to create an inclusive, supportive environment where trainees from diverse background can realize their potential and work collaboratively to address important questions. Our team includes developmental biologists, engineers, biophysicists, physician scientists, and chemists, each with their own unique backgrounds. I believe that diversity is critical to the success of the lab, and I am committed to creating an inclusive environment to help each person achieve their unique potential.

I am committed to providing trainees with personalized training in a wide range of skills that extend beyond lab skills. I work with each trainee to develop research projects that will provide them with specific technical training necessary for their future career goals. Moreover, each trainee has an individualized development plan that they develop with me and revisit frequently. This plan includes training beyond the lab. Members of my lab have been encouraged to pursue training including obtaining teaching certificates, attending professional conferences unrelated to the lab’s research, taking coursework to learn new skills, performing outreach to underprivileged communities, and working with consulting groups. Taken together, the Greenberg lab provides individualized training to help prepare trainees for a wide range of career paths.