Max Shinn, a senior studying neuroscience and mathematics, has been named a 2015 Churchill Scholar. He is the first U of M student in 25 years to receive the honor.
Shinn will reside at Churchill College, Cambridge, for the 2015–16 academic year. He will be applying mathematical graph theory to uncover the roots of psychiatric disorders, and he hopes his research will provide a new diagnostic tool to enable early identification and preventative care for mental illness.
"Mental illness is arguably the most important public health problem in developed countries," says Shinn. "But we still don't understand what is happening in the brain when someone has a psychiatric disorder. I am excited to use mathematics to improve the study and treatment of these very complicated disorders. The possibility of improving lives is what drives me to continue my work."
At the U of M, Shinn has received an Undergraduate Research Opportunities grant, and was also named a Goldwater Scholar in 2013 and an Astronaut Scholar in 2014.
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