A combination of interest and dedication has enabled me to engage in a very diverse set of projects over a relatively extended period for someone of my age. My first exposure to research was just after my junior year of highschool at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, where I worked with Dr. Stephen Walker on a project researching the link between exosomal miRNA, autism, and GI tract disorders. I attended regular research meetings, read papers, learned how to use advanced equipment, ran protocols, and presented my team’s preliminary results. 

Just after I graduated high school, I began work in the Pain Mechanisms Laboratory of the Wake Forest School of Medicine with Dr. Christopher Peters on a project using optogenetics to investigate methods of suppressing tumor pain in cancer patients. Over the course of the summer, I had a variety of responsibilities, from assisting with surgeries on lab animals to making up solutions. My greatest accomplishment was the imaging and statistical analysis of the distribution of optogens implanted within neurons of varying properties via a viral vector. 

My next project, beginning in my freshman year at Wake Forest, investigated the neurochemical mechanisms of addiction by examining the pleasure-inducing pathways between the Ventral Tegmental Area and the Nucleus Accumbens via fast-scan cyclic voltammetry and intracranial self-stimulation. For the two-year duration of this undertaking, I collaborated with Dr. Evgeny Budygin of the Wake Forest School of Medicine and Dr. Keith Bonin of the Wake Forest Physics Department on a variety of projects, with the long term goal of performing live neurochemical analysis of optogenetic intracranial self-stimulation in a rat model to better understand the pathway between the Nucleus Accumbens and the Ventral Tegmental Area in order to investigate the mechanisms of addiction. I worked independently to manufacture microelectrodes, set up Arduino-based systems to produce complex neural stimulation patterns, learned to handle and operate on rats and mice, trained animals in Intracranial Self-Stimulation, and performed countless neurochemical experiments using fast scan cyclic voltammetry. My most significant accomplishment was independently running experiments on the effects of a Parkinson’s disease treatment in the neurochemistry of ex-vivo mouse brain slices.

Work on this project was especially challenging, requiring the perseverance to endure twelve hour experiments and months of troubleshooting lab equipment as well as the inherent complexities of working with live subjects. Additionally, we faced COVID lockdowns and supply chain shortages, causing significant setbacks. Work on the project ultimately concluded prematurely when Dr. Budygin accepted a position as the department chair of neurobiology at a university in Russia. I am proud to say that I faced the various challenges brought on by these external factors professionally, shifting my focus to work on a new and exciting project whenever work was disrupted.

In 2019, I took some time off from the dopaminergenic addiction project to conduct an anthropological study in Nemea, Greece to learn about the cultural impact of its 7,000 year old viticultural tradition. This topic is especially close to my heart, since the history of my family and my cultural heritage is entwined with the famous Agiorgitiko grapevines which dot the hillsides of Nemea, my grandfather's hometown, where my relatives still cultivate fields which have been in the family for generations. I applied for and received a travel grant from Wake Forest University which I used to fly out to Nemea and stay with relatives for several weeks, where I conducted interviews with many locals involved in the viticultural industry. Prior to my travels, I also conducted significant historical research, analyzing historical impact of wine to enrich my perspective on its continued legacy today. Upon my return to America, I used their responses and observational data to write a report on the historical and contemporary impacts of wine making in Nemea, and presented my findings at the 2019 WFU URECA Symposium.

During COVID-related delays, I used the down time to learn MATLAB and write some image analysis programs for Dr. Bonin. After Dr. Budygin announced his departure, I transitioned fully to working with Dr. Bonin on an optics project aimed at creating a three-dimensional array of photonic ellipsoids by using a spatial light modulator for the wavefront correction and manipulation of a coherent laser beam. I independently wrote MATLAB programs which generated and tested hundreds of thousands of phase settings, then optimized the results to reliably create the tightest diffraction-limited Gaussian beam via the blazed-grating phase-optimization method of Dholakia et al. We ultimately met with mixed success in the generation of the grid, with some spheres on the edge of the pattern being poorly defined outside of the mid plane. We experimented with various other corrective methods and are in the process of adapting the system to accommodate the tracking of fluorescent microbeads, bringing us closer to the eventual goal of using this technique to monitor irradiated chromatin and learn more about carcinogenesis.

After graduating from Wake Forest, I moved onto my current research project, which involves implementing a Highly Inclined Swept Tile Light Sheet Fluorescent Microscopy imaging mode with novel software-controlled imaging paradigm flexibility. More information is available under Current Research.