Rachel is skilled in the areas of molecular biology, protein chemistry, drug discovery, and life sciences. She has experience spanning detailed mechanistic work to protein network studies giving her a unique and interdisciplinary perspective on science in her work as a patent technical specialist. 

Prior to joining Barnes & Thornburg, Rachel was a full-time faculty member at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, where she taught biochemistry lecture and laboratory courses, as well as an introductory pharmacology course. She did extensive curriculum development for lecture and laboratory courses including authoring a laboratory manual. 

Rachel’s graduate and postdoctoral research at the University of Michigan, focused on using genetic incorporation of unnatural amino acids for the study of protein-protein interactions in gene regulation.  This work was also expanded into looking at well-known oncogenic proteins such as Ras to improve analytical methodologies for cancer research. 

Using her background experiences, Rachel is proficient at interpreting and communicating science in a clear and technical manner. She is known for her ability to creatively portray scientific concepts through her science illustration work.