Dr. Young is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Immunology. She received BS degrees in Biology and Marine Science from Coastal Carolina University and her PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Kentucky, where she was an NCI F99/K00 Fellow. Her dissertation developed mass spectrometry methods to quantify and image glycogen and showed that glycogen accumulation drives Ewing sarcoma growth. She also contributed to studies defining the role of brain glycogen and glycosylation in Alzheimer’s disease. She completed postdoctoral training in spatial glycomics at MUSC as a T32 Fellow in Integrative Training in Oncogenic Signaling, where she mapped N-glycan changes across colorectal cancer progression, before joining the faculty in 2026.
Dr. Young’s research focuses on how cells use and store sugar and how this changes in disease. Her work combines mass spectrometry tool development, multi-omics integration and single-cell profiling of circulating immune cells to understand disease and identify new biomarkers and therapeutic targets. She is also committed to teaching and mentoring the next generation of scientists.
2012-2016, BS Biology and BS Marine Science, Coastal Carolina University
2017-2022, PhD Biochemistry, University of Kentucky, “Aberrant Glycogen Modulates Metabolism in Ewing’s Sarcoma”
2023–2026, Postdoctoral Fellowship, Medical University of South Carolina, “Spatial Glycomics and Mass Spectrometry Imaging of Disease”