As with many of my colleagues, I entered university with the sole intention of becoming a physician. My passion for problem solving in the context of science, health and medicine drove me to pursue my bachelor’s in Biology at the University of Miami, Florida. However, shortly into my freshman year, I discovered another passion of mine, the study of philosophy, which I also pursued to eventually earn my dual degree in both Biology and Philosophy with minors in chemistry and mathematics. It wasn’t long until I stumbled upon the intersection of Biology and Philosophy in the study of medical ethics, which genuinely piqued my interest. It was during this time I went on to work at the John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics and garnered my first scholarly publication in Neuroscience Letters for using stem cells to create neurological disease models of autism spectrum disorder. It was during this time my focus began to shift away from patient care and further towards academic and clinical research.
I went on to pursue higher education and earned my Master's of Science in Biotechnology from Chicago’s very own Rush University. Immersed in my coursework and newfound understanding of cutting-edge scientific research and medical procedures, I managed to obtain a 4.0 GPA my fall semester and used my performance as a springboard to launch into a PhD program at the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine as a PIBS (Program in Biological Sciences) student. It was here that I worked with Dr. Fangliang Zhang on protein arginylation research; a rarity in the field of Biological Sciences, as only 8 labs conduct this research worldwide.
Following the completion of this rotation, I participated in research under Dr. Joshua Hare, a forerunner in stem cell research, at the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute (ISCI). Here, I had the fortune of working on a project with NASA: Codename CASIS (Center for Advancement of Science in Space) where we used ultra fast centrifuges to spin cardiac stem cell incubators to observe differences in cell differentiation due to the zero gravity environment. While this deep immersion in the sciences was incredibly fascinating to me, I couldn’t help but feel my life had a different purpose than the traditional path towards a doctorate degree. Indeed, I had been bitten by the entrepreneurial bug and discovered a longing desire to utilize my background in the sciences and passion for media and marketing to cultivate an entirely new path for myself.
I decided to step away from my doctoral research and pursue my creative and business interests, such as founding Biolitics.org and hosting the Biolitics podcast; a scientific media outlet aimed at objectively discussing biopolitical and scientifically controversial issues to empower and better inform the public about the world around them. Eventually, this led me to founding my first official business venture (Karmik, LLC) where I’m able to utilize my scientific background to create evidence-based content and my business acumen to provide digital marketing and public relations services.
To remain in touch with the scientific community, I accepted a laboratory technologist position in the pediatric cardiothoracic surgery department at Rush Medical Center where I garnered a second-author publication in a study regarding third time heart transplantation and a lead author abstract accepted to the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) on second-time lung re-transplantation (second-time re-LTx). Recently, the Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation (JHLT), the #1 transplant journal in the field of transplant medicine, accepted my first lead author manuscript investigating second-time re-LTx publication!
Today, I enjoy collaborating and working with other thought leaders and science-minded colleagues on various projects that aim to expand the public’s perception of science and empower them with the necessary skills to think critically. It is my hope that through my work with Intelligent Speculation, I will help cultivate an atmosphere that aims to challenge our pre-existing mental constructs and empower society to constantly question and objectively explore the world around them.
An avid jazz enthusiast, I play the alto saxophone and have invested great energy into my passion of kundalini yoga and Eastern Spirituality.
Think Critically,
