Neal Nathan
Bateup Lab, MCB-NEU and Public Health Senior, 2017
Senior Honors Thesis: Proteins to Policy: A Study of the CNTNAP2 Mutation in Autism Spectrum Disorder (presented at the Public Health Honors Symposium)

Neal Nathan has found his research experience to be rewarding and engaging. He's enjoyed working with all the Bateup lab members, and particularly thanked his mentor, MCB Graduate Student Katelyn Benthall. He says, "I have appreciated not only the opportunity to link what I have learned in MCB classes to the actual experiments and questions being pursued in the lab, such as investigating the synaptic changes in models of an Autism Spectrum Disorder risk gene, but also the meaningful training and mentorship I have been provided, which has increased my capacity and passion for neurobiology.”

Helen Bateup notes that Nathan is motivated to go on and get a medical degree and is passionate about improving healthcare access in under-served communities. She says that while working on his dual degree and his honors thesis, "he has done significant amounts of community service work serving on the City of Berkeley Community Health Commission."