Dr. Steevens is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Neurosurgery working in Dr. Walter Low’s laboratory.  Her academic career began at the University of Minnesota where she graduated in 2007 with a B.S. in Neuroscience and Psychology.  Next she was accepted at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in Rochester, New York where she earned a PhD in Neuroscience after completing a doctoral dissertation that generated critical new understandings regarding how cell types required for hearing and balance form during normal inner ear development.

The Postdoctoral Association's career development awards are intended to provide financial support to enable participation in activities such as attending conferences, workshops, or courses that promote professional development and career advancement.

Dr. Steevens was scheduled to attend the meeting of the American Society for Neural Therapy and Repair (ASNTR) in 2020 to present on two separate projects.  1.) Using blastocyst complementation to generate inner ear stem cells that could be transplanted to a damaged inner ear to restore hearing and 2.) Using a viral based gene delivery system to reprogram astrocytes to neurons to protect against damage and promote functional recovery following traumatic brain injury. This meeting has been postponed until August and may be moved to virtual space, where she will still be able to present, or the meeting may be canceled.