As an undergraduate at Yale College, Dennis studied the mechanism underlying the electrical conductivity of microbial nanowires in Dr. Malvankar’s lab. Dennis’ nano-electronic devices helped the lab discover that stacked hemes in polymerized cytochrome OmcS Geobacter nanowires facilitate the transport of electrons over micrometers. After graduating college, Dennis spent five years in Dr. Patel’s lab at the Yale School of Medicine developing an assay to screen for early-stage cancer through the epigenetic profiling of cell free DNA circulating in blood. Through his work in translational science, Dennis was motivated to pursue a PhD through the Pharmacology Graduate Group program at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Dennis is excited to join the Hayes lab where he will explore and investigate novel neuropharmacology to modulate food intake and body weight regulation.