About Me

I was born in Danbury, Connecticut and have lived in Connecticut for most of my life. I have lived and worked in Connecticut’s 3rd congressional district for 15 years.

As a scientist with a background in cellular and molecular biology, my life has been focused on the pursuit of scientific knowledge and how it can provide a better quality of life for all. Those who know me know I am a person with unparalleled passion for justice and human rights.

I am a renter because, like most people in my generation, I have been priced out of the housing market. My father-- grandson of Irish immigrants-- and my mother-- granddaughter of Italian immigrants-- both take great pride in their heritage, and they worked extremely hard to provide a stable and secure home environment for me to grow up in.

It’s hard to imagine not being able to provide the same sort of environment for my child. With the exception of my magnificent mutt Yoshi, I have decided to be child-free, largely because I am worried about what the future holds for those that will come after me.

I am grateful that Connecticut has blessed me with education, with work, and a fulfilling life. But those blessings have become more of an exception than a rule for the people of Connecticut, and it’s time for change.

Why I’m Running

During an event to raise awareness for Gaza, I encountered Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut’s 3rd congressional district and confronted her about the 2 million people in Gaza on the brink of starvation. I asked her why she could not call this a “genocide.” I asked her how she sleeps with herself at night.

She responded, “very well.”

I do not sleep very well at night knowing 2 million people starve. I do not sleep well knowing that while a genocide is committed with our tax dollars, there are people in our district losing their jobs, losing their ability to save or get ahead. There are people with multiple jobs struggling to pay for rent and groceries. Teachers wonder how they will provide quality education with ever growing class sizes. We worry about our environment and if we will hand the next generation a sustainable planet. 

Rosa DeLauro has been in Congress since I was a toddler. Though I give Rosa credit for her work in women’s rights and education, she represents the old guard and resistance to the fundamental change that will be vital to the future of the Democratic party. Twentieth-century solutions are not meeting the demand of twenty-first century problems. Programs like Head Start are great, but at the end of the day, it is not enough to address the cost of living crisis. 

If Rosa was truly supporting our district, why have conditions over the last 15 years gotten worse? As a member of the Appropriations Committee, Rosa has great influence on what Congress appropriates. And with that influence she sent $8.5 million of Connecticut’s taxpayer dollars to fuel the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time, the genocide in Palestine.

If Rosa DeLauro truly represented the people, why is it that out of the $1.7 million dollars she raised last election cycle, only 5% came from small donations? How can she represent the true interests of the people when she takes corporate money from HP, Deloitte, AT&T, Verizon, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and SpaceX?

I ask the people of our district to imagine a better and brighter future for their kids and themselves. It is time for the working class to fight for what we deserve, the true value of our labor and our ideas, and build a coalition of people who demand that our needs are met. Together we are stronger. No one can change the future alone. So in this crucial time in our history, I ask the great people of Connecticut’s 3rd district to join us in this campaign!

How Science Influences My Campaign

As a person who has spent their entire career in science, I tend to be data driven. The Founding Fathers of this nation included in our Constitution The Progress Clause, found in Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the U.S. Constitution, granting Congress the power to promote the progress of science and useful arts. The Founders always wanted decisions to be guided by the best science.

Unfortunately, through personal experience, I have seen the challenges of conducting genuine science without economic democracy. Science is hardly accepted unless it advances capital interests. Scientists in America are encouraged to find lifetime treatments over one time cures in pursuit of increased profits. Publicly funded science is taken by big Pharma to serve their shareholders. Big Pharma profits are generated by patents made possible by public investment, and part of that profit is rarely returned to the taxpayers. Lastly, science exists to better all of mankind. However, Medical Science advances are only benefiting those with health insurance.

For our society to grow, we must create a democratic economy that fulfills the promise of the Progress Clause enshrined in our Constitution and allows science to be conducted free from the profit driven motive or political ideology.

The concepts I have learned through my career in Science will be reflected throughout the platform. In science, collaboration has yielded the most astonishing results over competition. In scientific collaboration, one idea is often enhanced when others from diverse backgrounds contribute their own ideas.

This campaign will promote the ideas as explained, but what becomes law may differ. However, as a scientist I am always hopeful that should that be the case, it is because collaboration only enhanced our original proposals!