Ms. Gallas graduated from Grinnell College with a Bachelor’s degree in Biology. During her years at Grinnell, she was a recipient of the Trustee’s Honor Scholarship and the Lonabelle Kaplan Scholarship for women and minorities in Mathematics and Science. She was a National Science Foundation-Research Experience for Undergraduates Summer Intern at the University of Missouri-Columbia studying the genetics of longevity and aging using the C. elegans model. After her undergraduate work, she continued her studies of longevity and aging as a Senior Research Technician in the laboratory of Dr. Donald Riddle.

Ms. Gallas earned a Master’s of Science in Pathology from The University of Chicago. There, she performed thesis research in the Departments of Medicine and Gastroenterology investigating the role of the dual ubiquitinating enzyme A20 in intestinal epithelial cell death. Her research also included developing tissue-specific transgenic mouse models for the study of Celiac disease. In addition to laboratory work, Ms. Gallas served as a teaching assistant for a graduate-level course in cancer biology.