Grant Goodman
M.D./Ph.D. Student
Grant Goodman is a medical student in the South Texas Medical Scientist Training Program (MD/PhD Program). He will enter into the graduate school portion of the training program in 2026.
About Me
I'm a native Texan with a passion for understanding and improving both myself and the world around me. After receiving my bachelor's degree in Neuroscience from Colorado State University in 2021, I decided to return to my roots here in Texas and pursue the goal of bringing lasting positive change to people's lives through the dual lens of science and medicine. In addition to clinical volunteering at Houston Methodist Hospital, my last few years here have been spent conducting translational research related to cerebrovascular injury and neurodegeneration under Dr. Louise McCullough in the BRAINS research laboratory at UT Health Houston. In my time there I developed the essential skills required to conduct biomedical research in a wet lab setting, with an emphasis on techniques relating to assessing metabolic function and protein expression in the brain. In this next phase of my academic journey, I am excited to tackle new problems and further develop the skillset necessary to lead independent and collaborative projects translational biomedical research.
Hobbies/Interests
I am a fitness fanatic, nature nut, and ginormous geek. In my free time you'll find me picking up heavy things, climbing mountains, or dressing up for the Renaissance Festival.
Research Topic
Neuroscience, Aging, Cellular Metabolism, Neurodegeneration, Stroke, Traumatic Brain Injury
Why I chose MD/PhD
I chose to pursue the dual MD/PhD degree because I believe it is just as important to understand why a problem is occurring as it is to understand how it can be fixed. Acutely, the answer to this "how" question can be critical to saving a patient's life and the MD does a great job of preparing one with the answer to this question for an astounding number of diseases and injuries. However, it is in understanding the pathophysiological cascade, the “why”, of a disease that we are able to develop the most effective answers for how to treat it. I am training to be a physician-scientist because I seek to not only treat my patients, but also deeply investigate their pathology and help develop the next generation of therapeutic interventions.
Why I chose MD/PhD at
My initial interest in was for its research opportunities related to neurodegeneration, aging, and metabolic dysfunction. The majority Hispanic patient population was also important to me as I am of Mexican descent and promoting equitable access to healthcare in the community is something I feel strongly about. Really though, it was the warmth and professionalism displayed by both students and faculty during my interviews that really made me feel like San Antonio was the right place for me.
Post-bac work or other affiliations
UT Health & Science Center at Houston
Education
Neuroscience, BS, Colorado State University
Publications
Grant W. Goodman, Justin Nguyen, Frank Blixt, Michael E. Maniskas, Louise D. McCullough, Anjali Chauhan. Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion in Aged Models. Methods in Molecular Biology: Neural Repair. 2023, PMID: 36715953
Grant Goodman, Trang Do, Chunfeng Tan, and Rodney Ritzel. Drivers of Chronic Pathology Following Ischemic Stroke: A Descriptive Review. Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology. 2023, PMID: 38112809
Grant W. Goodman, Patrick Devlin, Bryce West, Rodney M. Ritzel. The emerging importance of skull-brain interactions in traumatic brain injury. Frontiers in Immunology. 2023, PMID: 38680490
Onur Sahin, Hannah P. Thompson, Grant W. Goodman, Jun Li, Akihiko Urayama. Mucopolysaccharidosis and the Blood-Brain Barrier. Fluids & Barriers of the CNS. 2022, PMID: 36117162
Bhanu Ganesh, Pedram Honarpisheh, Maria Blasco Conesa, Ahmad El Hamamy, Romeesa Khan, Gary Guzman, Parisa Honarpisheh, Eric Mohan, Grant W. Goodman, Justin Nguyen, Anik Banerjee, Kyung Ae Ko, Janelle Korf, Chunfeng Tan, Huihui Fan, Gabriela Delevati Colpo, Hilda Ahnstedt, Lucy Couture, Julia Kofler, Jose F. Moruno-Manchon, Michael Maniskas, Jaroslaw Aronowski, Juneyoung Lee, Jun Li, Robert Bryan, Jr., Anjali Chauhan, Venugopal Reddy Venna, Louise McCullough. Restoring a balanced pool of host-derived and microbiota-derived ligands of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor is beneficial after stroke. Nature Communications. 2023 PMID: 37790313