Ph.D., Biochemistry (Minor: Organic Chemistry), 2008, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA Dissertation: Design, Synthesis, Kinetics, Molecular Modeling and Pharmacological Evaluation of Novel Inhibitors of Peptide Amidation. ​ B.S., Political Science, 1998, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL ​ As part of his thesis work at Georgia Tech, Michael investigated the effects of tuning the ratios of pro- and anti-inflammatory neuropeptides, with an emphasis on their immunological and anti-neoplastic effects. During a post-doctoral sabbatical, he synthesized a variety of polymeric agents for specialized drug delivery, which served to target and concentrate anti-inflammatory agents to activated immune cells and sites of high oxidative stress. At Novartis/CIBAVision, Michael developed a series of Biomarker Assays contact lenses from clinical patients which allowed for personalized tuning of contact lens coatings to improve ocular inflammatory outcomes and specialized diagnostic approaches for early disease detection and prevention.