Aaron Silverstein is an MD/PhD student, beginning his 4th year of PhD candidacy which begun after completion of both M1 and M2 from Fall 2019- Spring 2021. He hails from Paducah, KY, where he was homeschooled until beginning his post-secondary studies at the University of Kentucky. While an undergraduate, Aaron was a member of Dr. Warren Alilain's lab in the Department of Neuroscience, Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center, studying therapeutics to restore breathing motor function after cervical spinal cord injury. After graduating with dual degrees in Neuroscience and Psychology (including a minor in Violin Performance), Aaron completed a research rotation in Dr. Brandon Miller's lab, also within SCoBIRC, in the department of Neurosurgery, studying inflammation and white matter damage using microglia and oligodendrocyte progenitor cells in vitro. Aaron is now a PhD candidate in the Alilain lab, working on projects focused on SCI, neuroinflammation, intermittent hypoxia therapy treatment, and ethanol psychology, and will be defending his dissertation in late spring or early summer of 2025. Aaron and his wife, Kelsey, have both a 2-year-old daughter (Noah) and a 6-month-old son (Amos) and enjoy cooking, bicycling, watching MMA (and to a lesser degree, practicing it), camping, and hiking.