About

I am a post-coursework/pre-dissertation PhD student in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. I previously completed my undergraduate coursework at Pitt before entering graduate study in 2005. I currently work in the Zeringue Research Group under Dr. Henry Zeringue focusing on the development of microfluidic devices for neuroscience applications. My CV can be found here [last updated 4/1/09]. Following graduation, I plan to pursue medical school &| a post-doctoral fellowship in developmental neuropathology. 

RESEARCH BACKGROUND

Past:

My earliest research took me through biomechanics, tissue engineering, and artificial organ development. I worked on the characterization of a porcine-derived ECM under Dr. Stephen Badylak at the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. From there, I took a brief hiatus into industry, working on Quality control and FDA-based document management for a intracorporeal membrane oxygenator at Alung, Inc. Finally, I ended up working under Dr. Savio Woo at the Musculoskeletal Research Center to develop a high-load 6-degree of freedom robotic test system to evaluate double-bundle ACL reconstruction techniques.

Present:

My current time is split to between biomedical engineering and computational neuroscience in the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition - a joint Pitt/CMU institute focused around cognitive neuroscience. My primary work focuses around the development of microfluidic devices to study axonal extension and guidance (papers forthcoming). My secondary (read: hobby) area of interest is understanding how known calcium-binding molecular pathways are able to detect and modulate synaptic plasticity as a function of the intracellular calcium profile. The research is currently in the staging phase and will soon begin full-scale simulations at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center. I ve given up trying to relate the two aspects of my current research within the span of my graduate work - if any ambitious new graduate students are interested I’ll gladly direct them along the correct path.

Future:

My future work and really central focus regards Autism and related developmental disorders. Unfortunately,  Autism  has achieved buzz-word status as of writing this in 2009, so I will need to be careful to remain focused on my original goals. Those goals, succinctly stated, are thus:

• Extract meaningful endophenotypes from current and future epidemiological studies
• Expand the definition of endophenotype to include static structural formations and dynamic developmental trajectories (identified using DTI/DSI/HA MRI)
• Identify any significant correlations between common and rare genetic mutation with respect to the previously identified endophenotypes.

I realize that much of this work will require a great deal of tenacity and time. The benefit, in addition to providing a platform for the development of future clinical interventions and therapies, is the significant insight into neurotypical cognitive function. ASD presents as a deficit in higher-order cognition, a topic that is difficult if not impossible to study in most animal systems. Finally, should I even come close to accomplishing the goals set out, I seek to extend the work in endophenotype classification and genetics to a functional genomic therapy. I will grant today that genomics/gene therapy is still controversial and relatively unappreciated as a conservative treatment option, but I expect that in 10-20 years a different, more accepting landscape will be present. Even when a treatment does exist, the early developmental onset of ASDs will force a preliminary action by both parents and physician. The ethical implications of supervised cognitive modification are non-trivial and will provide a continual challenge for fellow bioethicists and neuroethicists well after I am dead (uplifting I know!).