I'm originally from San Antonio, Texas and served in the Marine Corps as a signals intelligence analyst at Pearl Harbor and then as a radio reconnaissance man at MCBH Kaneohe Bay. I was lucky enough to be able to attend night classes and after being inspired by my anthropology class project, I worked on an organic farm for a few months in Hawaii after my time in the military. I've always been deeply curious in how life works, so I went on to obtain a BS in Biochemistry at Hawaii Pacific University. Seeking a research position that combined stem cell and CRISPR gene editing technologies, I made my way to New York City and fortunately landed a job working as a research assistant in Dr. Angela Christiano’s lab. My primary project was on creating autologous gene-corrected iPSC-derived skin organoids as a potential treatment for recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB) patients. After working on this amazing project, I decided I wanted to understand more about the mechanisms of stem cell differentiation.I'm now a PhD candidate at Columbia University in Genetics and Development and joined the Simunovic Lab in 2020. I'm studying the signaling hierarchy involved in early human development by combining traditional cell culture with engineering techniques such as micropatterns and microfluidics.