Dana joined the McLendon lab in Spring 2026 as a PhD student. She is in the Drug Discovery and Experimental Therapeutics Program and her current research explores the connection between the cardiomyocyte ncMTOC and perinuclear proteostasis. Dana completed her bachelor's degree in Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics at UCLA, where she researched mutagenesis and mutational hotspots using E.coli. Outside of the lab, Dana enjoys reading, painting, and trying new arts and crafts.