Research Volunteer

Daniel is a graduate from Hunter College with a bachelor degree in Biological Sciences on the pre-Physician Assistant track. He has been a research volunteer in the Horowitz Lab since September of 2024 and is proud that his academics gave him a strong foundation in biology and experimental research to apply to the fun work he contributes to the lab.

His research is mainly focused on the Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) project which is investigating the differentiation of CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells into natural killer (NK) cells. His work involves isolating CD34+ cells, culturing and differentiating them into NK cells, and performing immunophenotyping to examine stromal and mature NK cell populations. Through this process, he has gained a great amount of hands-on experience with cell culture techniques, immune cell analysis, and flow cytometry–based characterization.

In the long term, he wants to be further engaged in health sciences by pursuing a career as a Physician Assistant. He appreciates the translational research he is involved with in the lab. It has furthered his interest in studying disease from a biological level and hopes to translate these findings to patient care. 

Fun fact: I have a double jointed thumb.