Michael is a rising senior at UCLA majoring in Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology. He is an aspiring movement disorder specialist and hopes to run a drug discovery lab targeting α-synuclein and tau aggregation in neurodegeneration. Michael has conducted research in Dr. Jeff Bronstein’s lab since the summer following his freshman year. The lab aims to establish the causal association between environmental toxin exposure and Parkinson’s disease (PD) pathology by leveraging transgenic zebrafish models. Michael is specifically investigating whether an environmentally relevant exposure to the pesticide copper sulfate (CuSO4) is a true PD risk factor. Epidemiological studies have associated chronic agricultural CuSO4 exposure with faster PD symptom progression, yet the biological plausibility and potential underlying mechanisms of this neurotoxicity remain unknown. Michael’s previous studies have demonstrated that environmentally relevant CuSO4 exposure induces selective dopaminergic neuron loss consistent with PD pathology. As an Amgen Scholar, he is continuing this work by measuring lipid peroxidation and oxidative stress pathways to better understand the mechanisms driving CuSO4-induced selective dopaminergic neuron loss.
Michael would like to thank the Bronstein Lab, especially project scientist Dr. Lisa Barnhill and Dr. Jeff Bronstein, for their wonderful mentorship and constant support. He would also like to thank the Amgen Foundation for the opportunity to grow as a researcher and further pursue his passion for science.