about this site

On June 19th, I’ll be embarking on a 10 day journey across the Canadian Rockies in an effort to raise over $5,000 for Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Research.  Riding from Vancouver to Banff will undoubtedly be a grueling challenge but I hope to convince you that my journey pales in comparison to the challenges that patients with CF face.  As raising $5,000 for CF is my tangible goal, I hope to use my blog, ”Learn to Breathe,” as an opportunity to share with you my personal thoughts and motivations leading up to, during and following my ride to Banff and to give you a glimpse of the reality of Cystic Fibrosis in our lives.

Currently, I am a graduate student in Dr. Bruce Vallance’s lab at the Children and Family Research Institute at Children’s Hospital.  It is my privilege to be a part of pediatric scientific research and to act as an ambassador for Cystic Fibrosis research.  While my current research is not directly related to CF, many of the underlying themes of innate immunity and bacterial pathogenesis that I study may lead to contributions in the realm of CF lung disease.