2023 Fellow David Boyer

I began my journey in science after learning of the beautiful combination of human problem solving and molecular evolution when volunteering in the lab of Frances Arnold, Nobel Laureate and pioneer of directed evolution, at Caltech in 2011. During this short trip, I saw that many human problems, such as renewable energy and green chemistry, could be solved by studying and harnessing the wondrous molecular mechanisms of Nature. Since that realization after my freshman year at the University of Michigan, I set out to participate in as many projects as I could find working at the intersection of biology and human problem solving. I joined numerous academic research endeavors at the University of Michigan, from biofuels to synthetic biology, resulting in both a publication and a patent. After graduating from the University of Michigan, I obtained my PhD in 2021 at UCLA under the mentorship of world-renowned biophysicist Prof. David Eisenberg and supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. During my PhD, I switched my focus from biofuels and synthetic biology to understanding the molecular basis for neurodegeneration, resulting in over 20 publications, several patents, and numerous departmental, campus, and university-wide honors, including selection for the inaugural University of California Lindau Nobel Meeting Fellows program. I am currently at the end of the first year of my postdoctoral fellowship in the Eisenberg lab where I am seeking to answer one of the outstanding questions in the neurodegeneration field.