Sam joined Octant in 2024 as an apprentice on the Platform Biology team. They develop in-cell reporters for elucidating the behavior of downstream intermediates of GPCR signaling and apply that knowledge to interesting disease systems. His scientific interests include clinical & translational medicine and the intersection of computational and cellular biology.

Prior to Octant, Sam worked as a Research Tech & Data Analyst jointly for the Isacoff & Marqusee Labs at the UC Berkeley Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute and Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology. They studied the activation of metabotropic glutamate receptor 2 (mGluR2), a GPCR involved in learning and memory. Using molecular dynamics simulations that Sam designed, executed, and analyzed, his research group at UC Berkeley was able to identify a critical salt bridge which proved necessary for activation of mGluR2’s ligand binding domain.Sam also worked on a second project articulating a transmembrane transport pathway for cell wall synthesis by Gram-positive bacteria. Previously, he was a biology intern at Regel, a targeted therapeutics company, where he developed constructs for the rescue of haploinsufficiency disorders of the CNS.

Sam graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 2023 with a major in Bioengineering and concentration in Synthetic and Computational Biology, and spent an exchange semester at Korea University in Seoul. They enjoy hot chocolate, road trips, reading sci-fi, practicing languages, and hanging out with cats and reptiles.