Slater Sharp, 2015

Slater is a PhD candidate in neurobiology at Harvard Medical School. He studies molecules, cells, and neural circuits in mice to learn how animals use social interactions to identify safe foods.

He has previously worked as a science policy fellow in the Massachusetts State House, where he prepared a report on the effects of ocean acidification on the shell fishing industry and marine ecosystems more broadly. He has also held positions as a research assistant at Harvard Medical School, a laboratory technician at Boston Children’s Hospital, and a copy editor for a journal that publishes research performed by high school students.

He has earned several fellowships and is a member of a national biological honor society.

Slater is from San Francisco. At Cornell he majored in biochemistry and molecular biology and graduated magna cum laude. Slater believes that Cornell prepared him for a career in research and science policy by teaching him to engage with primary sources and think critically about difficult issues, both in and out of the lab.

He lives in Boston.