Rachel is interested in spinal cord regeneration in the goldfish, and conducts her research in the laboratory of Dr. Robert Waldeck.  Spinal cord injury resulting from trauma is extremely difficult to heal; thus it often leads to paralysis.  This is due to the fact that when nerve cells are damaged and their connections are severed, they have a difficult time regrowing and re-establishing these connections.  However, animals such as goldfish routinely regenerate their spinal cords following injury.  If she can learn how these animals regrow their spinal cord nerves, she could help identify potential avenues for spinal injury treatment in humans. She actively researched the topic, wrote a research proposal, entitled "Determining the presence of laminin as a growth promoting molecule in goldfish spinal cord regeneration", and was awarded the President’s Summer Research Fellowship in 2011.