Christen is a Ph.D. student in the Neurosciences Graduate Program. She earned her B.S. in Neural Science with minors in American Sign Language and Psychology from New York University. After graduating, she worked as a Research Technician in the Carew Lab and as a Laboratory Manager in the Suzuki Lab at NYU. Prior to entering the Ph.D. program, Christen worked as a Chemical Laboratory Technician at BASF Corporation. She was awarded a position on the Rutgers Biotechnology Training grant funded by NIH. Her thesis project focuses on biomarkers related to schizophrenia.