Tracey Avequin earned a B.S. in botany with a specialization in molecular biology and plant physiology at Michigan State University. After graduation, she worked abroad for INSERM studying human neurodegeneration in the fly model. Tracey then moved into the field of translational cancer research at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, where she trialed individualized therapies on cancer cell lines. Later, Tracey came to VAI’s Department of Metabolism and Nutritional Programming as a research associate to study the onset of obesity in a mouse model. She joined VAI’s Genomics Core in April 2022.