I’m Mike, a quantitative biologist with a background in evolutionary theory, population dynamics, and quantitative methods for studying microbiomes. Since early 2022, I have served as the scientific lead for the Nucleic Acid Observatory (NAO) project, first at MIT and now at SecureBio. The NAO is a collaboration between SecureBio and Kevin Esvelt’s Sculpting Evolution group at MIT which is developing new methods to detect future pandemics.
From 2017–2022, I was a Postdoc with Ben Callahan at NC State University, where I worked on methods to improve the accuracy and reproducibility of microbiome measurements.
Prior to that (2010–2016), I did a Ph.D. in Biology under Marcus W. Feldman, in which I developed mathematical theory to describe evolutionary dynamics in spatially structured populations.
In my undergraduate studies (2005–2009), I studied mathematics, logic, and physics at the University of Pennsylvania. During that time, I worked in the Devlin Lab on several telescope projects, spending 4 months at the Atacama Cosmology Telescope after graduation.