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BS Molecular Biology and Marine Biology, Florida Tech 1998
PhD Biomedical Sciences, University of California,
San Francisco 2007
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I was born and raised in Columbus, OH. At the age of 18, I headed to Florida Tech
in lovely Melbourne, FL to pursue my dream of becoming the next
Jacques Cousteau. Although dolphin
population surveys were thrilling, I slowly found myself drawn towards
biomedical research. Plus, it is
easier to explain the value of diabetes research to Grandma than it is to get
her all fired up about sea slug research.
The US
government agrees. Hence, it is also
easier to get funding to study human disease than it is to get funding to
study marine invertebrates.
Upon finishing my bachelors degree, I took a few
years off from school to work at a South
San Francisco biotech company called COR
Therapeutics. While there, I
participated in studies of platelet biology.
Energized by my quest to improve human health through science, I
entered the biomedical sciences graduate program at the University of California,
San Francisco
in the fall of 2000. During this time
I worked in the laboratory of Matthias Hebrok and studied different embryonic
signaling pathways that are involved in the formation of the pancreas.
Somewhere along the way I found my lovely wife
Heather (we’ve been married 8 years) and we had two children: James (age 6)
and Eric (age 3). On the rare occasion
when I find a moment of free time, I enjoy scuba diving in the lush kelp
forests of Monterey
Bay (I still have to
satisfy that “Jacques Cousteau” itch every once in awhile). A more recent hobby includes torturing
students with the beautiful intricacies of human anatomy at Skyline Community College.
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