Daniel is a first-year graduate student in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Rice University studying health psychology and behavioral medicine. Daniel graduated from Rice University in 2023 with a Bachelor’s degree in psychology and minor in neuroscience, completing his senior thesis examining the role of psychological needs in depressive symptom expression in dementia caregivers. He has been working as a research assistant in the BMED lab since 2021. His work surrounds the immune and metabolic mechanisms that link extreme stress to psychopathology, including anxiety and depression. Daniel aims to understand how trauma, uncertainty, perfectionism, and other individual differences contribute to differences in mental and physical health, and how immune and metabolic dysregulation might explain these differences. Outside of Rice, Daniel enjoys figure skating and coaching, supplementing his passion for working with kids and young adults. He also enjoys photography, and is the current BMED Lab photographer.