Michael Ngan
Biography
What is your favorite word? What do you like about it?
“together” My first memory of the word is in first grade when I had difficulty spelling it. My teacher helped me sound out the word by each syllable “to-get-her” to help me spell it. To me, this word represents society. We can solve problems together. We can share experiences and make culture together.
What is on your bookshelf?
A collection of books I found interesting throughout my life: Harry Potter set, Percy Jackson set, engineering books (Engineering and the Mind’s Eye, book about engineering skyscrapers, etc.), autobiographies (Ruth Bader Ginsburg), and magazines.
What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you?
I earned a black belt in taekwondo when I was young. It surprises people because my hand-eye coordination and reflexes are admittedly very poor.
What degrees do you hold and from what institutions?
B.A. in Sports Medicine and Exercise Physiology from Rice University.
What excites you about joining Texas A&M School of Medicine for your PhD studies?
The opportunity to learn something new in a different setting than I am accustomed to.
If you could meet any scientist throughout history, who would you want to meet and why?
Dr. Li WenLiang; talk about how he recognized an outbreak similar to SARS and his courage to speak up.
Tell us something you are passionate about apart from research.
Mechanical engineering has always interested me. In college, I decided to minor in Global Health Technologies and was part of a team that built a low-cost thermometer that could be useful during this pandemic.