My name is Michael, and I am a neurodevelopmental medicine researcher at Kennedy Krieger Institute. I received my Master of Science degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 2023. My bachelor's is a B.S. in Neuroscience from UCLA (2019). I love teaching! My lifelong teaching philosophy is that fostering growth and curiosity in others can lead to academic success.

As for my own career goals, the current plan is applying to MD/PhD programs and PhD programs in the next two years for neurology or neuroscience. I currently work as a researcher at Kennedy Krieger Institute studying the molecular etiology and mechanisms of enterovirus-D68- mediate acute flaccid myelitis (AFM). My master's thesis was on ubiquitination and protein insolubility in model olfactory epithelial cells from patients with schizophrenia which correlates with poorer cognitive performance - a paper is in review for the high-impact journal Molecular Psychiatry.

In my free time, I like to play piano, cook, make coffee, and learn about anything and everything. Stay curious!