Nick is a rising senior studying Cell Biology and Neuroscience at Rutgers-New Brunswick. At his home institution, Nick studies the role of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) and post-transcriptional regulation in the development of the neocortex under the guidance of Dr. Mladen-Roko Rasin. His work has uncovered the isoform and cell-type specific effects of the RBP HuD on cell-fate in the neocortex. During his time at UCLA, Nick is studying gene expression in the brains of mice and monkeys exposed to maternal immune activation (MIA) during in utero development. Large epidemiological studies have shown that an infection during pregnancy can lead to increased risk for schizophrenia and autism, therefore studying the molecular mechanism through which MIA effects brain development is crucial to understanding the cause of these diseases. Nick will analyze two large RNA-seq datasets from both adult mice and monkeys to understand the long-term effects of in utero MIA on brain development and to uncover the gene expression changes that underlie the behavioral changes seen in these model organisms. Nick would like to the Gandal and Geschwind labs for mentoring him, and would also like to thank the Amgen Foundation and the Autism Science Foundation for funding his research at UCLA this summer.