Mentor: Lena Brundin, M.D., Ph.D.

Research Focus: A role for intestinal-derived peptide YY in modulating anxiety

Experience: Joshua, originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan, earned his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from Aquinas College. He is extremely passionate about nature and biological sciences. Joshua started his research career at Aquinas College where he received the Mohler Thompson Grant, which supported studies into the elliptical structure of icosahedral viruses. Additionally, during his undergraduate career, he worked on the crosstalk between de novo and maintenance DNMTs during DNA methylation, and the role of CTCF in recognizing hemimethylated DNA within the Worden and Peter A. Jones labs, respectively, at Van Andel Institute. Now as a Ph.D. graduate student at Van Andel Institute in the Brundin Lab, he researches how hormones primarily produced in the gut impact mood, behavior and neurodegeneration.

Undergraduate Institution: Aquinas College

Hometown: Grand Rapids, Michigan

Publications

*Completed during time as a VAI graduate student

*McDaniel M, Wierenga J. 2023. Geometry goes viral. Math Mag 96(4):416–422.