Sarah Clayton received her Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, in May 2011. After graduate school, she began a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Iowa, concluding in June 2014. Dr. Clayton’s research interests include the role of life experience in modulating cardiovascular disease risk. Specifically, she is interested in how these experiences (such as chronic stress or exercise training) contribute to long-term neuroplastic changes within the brain centers that control autonomic outflow and blood pressure. She employs animal models and molecular techniques to answer experimental questions. Dr. Clayton is also interested in pedagogical research related to best practices for the teaching of physiology in medical education. She is particularly interested in investigating effective teaching strategies, including delivery modalities to enhance student comprehension and how these approaches may vary with audience and setting.