Mentor: Yvonne Fondufe-Mittendorf

Undergraduate University: Creighton University, B.S. in Biology

Experience: Richard worked in Omaha at the Eppley Institute for Cancer Research for two years on projects ranging from DNA mutagenesis to establishing a colon organoid model system. His senior year, he was awarded a NASA Nebraska Space Grant to study evolutionary mechanisms acting on multi-protein complexes in yeast. After undergrad, he joined the NIH as a post-baccalaureate fellow. There, he studied the role of endoplasmic reticulum ion regulation in maintaining ER homeostasis.

Hometown: Kansas City, Kansas

Hobbies: Spending time with my wife, Anna, and our cats, Ms. Marjory and Poe, bagpiping and traveling