Presenting Author
University of California, Davis
Joseph M. Martinez is from Clovis, New Mexico, the youngest of three siblings. He received his B.S. in Brain and Cognitive Sciences from MIT. Upon graduation, Joseph worked as the Assistant Director at the Garrison Institute on Aging in Lubbock, TX researching Alzheimer’s disease for four years. Joseph then completed dual MS/MBA degrees at TTUHSC and the Rawls College of Business researching sex differences in alcohol use disorders and studying STEM business, respectively. For his work, Joseph was awarded the Rawls College of Business Administration Excellence in Management Award and the TTUHSC Dean’s Recognition Award, the highest award given to master’s students. Currently Joseph is a Ph.D. candidate in Neuroscience at the University of California, Davis (UCD) in the Xiang Lab where he studies adrenergic signaling pathways in the central nervous system focusing on learning and memory. He also studies these signaling pathways in neurodegenerative disease models. Upon matriculation to UCD, Joseph was awarded a spot in the Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD) program funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. He later was awarded a position in UCD’s Pharmacology T32 Fellowship. Joseph’s goal is to further the understanding of the mechanism of disease pathogenesis in neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. For his PhD work Joseph has been awarded the NIH Blueprint D-SPAN F99/K00 Award.