Michael is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Veronica Alvarez at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). As a 2017–2019 CCB Fellow, Michael’s research is focused on the involvement of striatal cholinergic interneurons in compulsive behaviors. Specifically, he is interested in studying prefrontal cortex projections onto cholinergic interneurons and how they are affected by drugs of abuse.
Michael received a B.S. in Biological Science from McNeese State University in 2011 and completed his Ph.D. in Neuroscience under the mentorship of Dr. Fereshteh Nugent at the Uniformed Services University in 2017. His Ph.D. thesis focused on the effects of early life stress on midbrain reward circuitry.
When outside the lab, Michael enjoys swimming, historical longsword fencing and skiing.