Dr. Kowalski was diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome at six years old. As she entered high school, her symptoms began to escalate, making her realize she wanted to be able to properly advocate for herself. She began to work with the New Jersey Center for Tourette Syndrome (NJCTS) to become a youth advocate, and experience which flipped her perspective on having TS from a negative to a positive. As she continued to work with NJCTS, she also developed a passion for the sciences which pushed her to pursue a career in scientific research. Dr. Kowalski graduated from Brandeis University in 2021 with a B.S. in Neuroscience and two years of research experience under the mentorship of Dr. Suzanne Paradis. She is now a fifth year Ph.D. candidate in Dr. Max Tischfield’s lab at Rutgers University, where she is leveraging genetic mouse models to characterize pathophysiological changes involved in TS.