In his sophomore year, looking for his first official research project, Simon applied to the NASA Space grant at NAU, and was accepted to the program on a waiting list opportunity. This acceptance opened up many opportunities for him, the key one being a summer research experience at the University of Chicago, allowing him to study experimental biophysics for a summer.

After becoming more interested in biophysics, and wanting to continue in that field Simon applied to the NIH sponsored PREP program to gain one more year of research experience - specifically in computational biology. Grateful for these opportunities, Simon ultimately accepted an offer to the University of Pennsylvania PhD program, where he uses molecular dynamics simulations to investigate properties of biological systems and hopes to apply these concept to basic research as well as clinical investigations.

Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics – PhD student
University of Pennsylvania