About Me

When asked about ourselves, don't we all get a bit introspective, and a little nervous? "Who am I?" What I want to say is: I am an educator. I am a scientist. I am a husband and a father, a brother and a son and I am a friend. I am a citizen of the world, and I am a human being.

Here is my most current CV and teaching philosophy.

Here is a statement of my research interests.

Some letters of recommendation that I have received: From Dr Madina my teaching mentor, Dr Lease and another Dr Lease my supervisor at OSSM, Dr Mullen a post-doc in my lab when I was getting my PhD .Dr. Richards a colleague at OSSM and Dr. Zhang a colleague at OU.

I was born in Denver CO, moved to Colorado springs when I was 4, West Virginia at 6, Kansas from 9-13 and western New York until 1985. I went to college at the University of Texas in Austin from 1995-1997. I joined the Navy while living in Reno, Nevada at the age of 21. In the Navy, I studied nuclear engineering, chemistry and radiological controls, and in 1991 I was stationed on the USS Birmingham (SSN-695) out of Pearl Harbor, HI.

After being medically discharged from the navy in 1997, I went to school at the University of Oklahoma studying biochemistry. I worked in cardiovascular research for 2 years after graduation, and returned to school at the University of Oklahoma Health Science Center in 2004. I was in a multi-disciplinary program called GPiBS (and this is where I met my wife). GPiBS is a collaborative program among six graduate programs within the OU College of Medicine offering first year interdisciplinary curriculum to prepare students for career choices in the biomedical sciences. I matriculated into the Cell Biology department, but my research involved genetics and neurobiology. I received my Ph.D. May 13, 2011.

While in school I took an elective course in pedagogy. Before graduation I volunteer taught at Oklahoma School of Science and Math, and after graduation I taught invertebrate zoology, vertebrate zoology and genetics at OSSM. At the same time, I was an adjunct professor of neurobiology at University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK. For the 2012-13 school year, I was a visiting professor at the University of Richmond teaching Genetics and Cell biology. I taught Anatomy and Physiology at ECPI during the summer of 2013. Next I moved to J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, followed by Gettysburg College and then Villanova.

I am married to a lovely physician/scientist doing pathology at UPenn. We have a daughter, Jaden, who is 15, and is a budding biologist. I am an amateur magician and love to play pool.