John Beck grew up in Grand Rapids and was very excited to join the Counts laboratory in the Fall of 2013. Prior to becoming a Spartan, John spent over two decades at the University of Iowa in Dr. Val Sheffield’s laboratory. While there, he worked on the Human Genome project and was a member of the teams that discovered the causal mutations for Pendred syndrome and Bardet-Biedl syndrome. Current research interests include examining the genetics of neurodegenerative diseases by utilizing techniques such as laser capture microscopy, gene and miRNA expression profiling, ELISA, and immunohistochemistry. Away from the lab John enjoys reading, following college sports, and spending time at his family’s lake house in northern Michigan.