The T32 allowed me to experience a joint training venture between Rush and UIC neuroscience, two graduate neuroscience programs with very different foundations and philosophies. This experience allowed me to experience the pros and cons of both top-down and bottom-up approaches to translational research, which is especially relevant to my training as an MD/PhD. Subsequent to receiving the T32, grant from the Center for Clinical and Translational Science, and successfully defended my dissertation entitled "The Role of Specific JNK Isoforms in Huntington's Disease Pathogenesis" before returning to my clinical training. I believe the knowledge and experiences gained during the period of my training supported by the Neurosciences T32 will help guide my professional decisions for the rest of my career as a physician scientist.” The T32 Training Grant in Neurosciences supported my training at UIC, allowing me to delve into the molecular mechanisms underlying Huntington’s disease while giving me broad exposure to the Neuroscience of Mental Health and Mental Illness. My modest contribution to the field of neurodegenerative diseases was by no measure earthshattering, but the years of countless late-night RT-PCR runs, finicky transient transfections of cell cultures, and suboptimal Western blots, had instilled in me an indelible appreciation for the scientific method, and for the specific strengths and limitations of various molecular methodologies. My graduate training at UIC, with the aid of the T32 training grant, had given me the scientific foundation to follow this path. I intend to provide a bridge between the knowledge of my clinical counterparts, and the basic science of molecular diagnostics and therapeutics, through my ongoing pursuit of a truly translational field.