Pre-Medical (MCAT): Authors & Editors
Ogan Gurel, MD, MPhil
Editor-in-Chief
Ogan graduated from Harvard in Biochemical Sciences, later earning a master’s degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics from Columbia and an MD from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He has published several articles in the peer-reviewed literature spanning the fields of membrane proteins, growth factors, x-ray crystallography, diabetes and nanotechnology. He completed surgical internship at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Back in high school (as a graduate of Stuyvesant High School) he won 3rd place in the Westinghouse (now Intel) Science Talent Search for a research project in computer science. His greatest love is teaching and over the many years that he taught his own, independent MCAT Intensive Review (in the New York City, Kansas City, and Boston areas as well as in conjunction with Princeton University) hundreds of his students have since gone on to successful careers in medicine. He has also served as a teaching fellow at Harvard Medical School (Neuroanatomy), Columbia University (Neural Sciences and Biochemistry) and was an undergraduate tutor at the Harvard Bureau of Study Counsel where he taught all the basic premedical sciences (Biology, Chemistry, Orgo and Physics). As a resident (with a joint appointment as Clinical Fellow in Surgery at Harvard Medical School), he served as a premedical advisor at Harvard (Mather House) with several of his students likewise going on to medical school. More recently he has taught advanced courses at Roosevelt University (Bioinformatics, Mathematical Modeling in the Life Sciences, and Cellular and Molecular Biology) and he has served as a pre-medical advisor at the University. After residency he worked as a physician for several international medical relief expeditions in Macedonia (during the Kosovo NATO campaign) and in Turkey (after the 1999 earthquake). He achieved 99% rankings on the MCAT and 99.9% rankings on the NBME Part 1 (USMLE Step 1).
Nicholas Mertaugh
Managing Editor
Nicholas is a recent graduate of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine interested in (read “fanatical about”) health IT, medical software, and revamping medical education. He entered medical school with an MS in biophysics and a mission of pursuing surgery as a career, and is leaving medical school with an MS in computer science and a mission of performing surgery on our broken medical and medical education systems. Nicholas was also a Kaplan MCAT instructor for several years and uses his experience with teaching pre-meds how to bulldoze the exam to connect with our family of users at Gunner Training. When he’s not writing code and wearing twenty Gunner hats, Nicholas is fueled by fine woodworking, collecting Russian opera, and playing bluegrass guitar.
Steve J. Huffaker, MD, PhD
Author (Physics)
Steve is a resident in the Harvard Combined Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Program but has a track record of scientific research that spans multiple disciplines. From an honors thesis in human embryonic stem cells to patents in microarray data analysis and high-throughput drug screening, Steve thrives where multiple disciplines converge. Graduating with highest honors from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Steve also holds a PhD in neuroscience from the University of Cambridge and an MD from Harvard Medical School. While prolific during his graduate studies, Steve also helped to develop the Oxford/Cambridge/NIH MD/PhD Partnership program. Since its conception in 2005-2006, this international training program has become one of the most prestigious physician-scientist training programs in the world. Steve continues to be impassioned by educational methods and educational reform, with active research in models of learning and career outcomes.
Thomas Hocker, MD, MPhil
Author (Organic Chemistry & General Chemistry)
Thomas graduated with Honors from Harvard Medical School and is currently a Dermatology resident at Mayo Clinic, located in sunny Rochester, MN. While he enjoys the field of medicine, his first loves have always been science and test preparation. While an undergraduate at Yale University, he took multiple graduate-level chemistry courses and thoroughly enjoyed teaching courses in Organic Chemistry and Biology. Outside of the classroom, he competed in Division I Track and Field for all four years and managed to become a five-time Ivy League Track and Field champion in the hurdles and 4 x 400 meter relay. He was selected to Verizon’s 1st Team Academic All-American roster. On the MCAT, Thomas scored a perfect 15/15 on each of the science sections and had an overall score in the 99th percentile. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Yale University in 2002 and at graduation, was awarded the award for Most Outstanding Student in the Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology Department. In 2002, he was awarded the Churchill Fellowship, which allowed him the opportunity to pursue an M.Phil in Organic Chemistry at Cambridge University. After emerging from the many local pubs in England, he was accepted into Harvard Medical School. While at Harvard, Thomas engaged heavily in research on cancer genetics. He excelled on all standardized tests, scoring in the 99th percentile on the USMLE Step 1 exam, 99th percentile on the USMLE Step 2 exam, and 98th percentile on the USMLE Step 3 exam. He graduated with Honors from Harvard Medical School in 2008 and is now enjoying his Dermatology Residency at Mayo Clinic. In his 1st year of a three-year residency, Thomas scored in the 99th percentile on the American Board of Dermatology In-Service exam. He has served as an author and editor for multiple test-preparation companies, but feels that none will surpass the quality and quantity of information offered through Gunner Training.
Follow Thomas on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/Dr_ThomasHocker
Read about Thomas at the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/19/fashion/19beauty.html
Sharon Fox, MD
Author (Biology)
Sharon graduated with Honors from Harvard Medical School, and is currently pursuing her PhD in Neuroimaging through the combined Harvard-MIT program in Medical Engineering/Medical Physics. In the lab, she focuses on how the brain develops in children, and specifically the identification of neural markers of abnormal development in diseases such as autism. Sharon is an award-winning teacher in the sciences, receiving an award for Excellence in Teaching Life Sciences at Harvard University in 2009, and the Graduate Teaching Award from MIT in 2010. She first became interested in the study of the brain and visual perception at Princeton University, where she graduated with Highest Honors in both Art & Archaeology and Neuroscience. Her study of how the brain works gives her an in-depth understanding of the principles of spaced learning, and allows her to optimize the content of GT.
Frank Lau, MD
Author (Biology)
Frank is a resident in the Harvard Combined Plastic Surgery Residency Program and a clinical research fellow at the Massachusetts General Hospital. In the lab, he’s directing the differentiation of hepatocytes from induced pluripotent stem cells and embryonic stem cells. He’s also investigating the physiology of adipogenesis. One of his greatest passions is teaching, which is a pursuit that’s engaged him since high school. He taught the MCAT during his undergraduate years at Yale, where he graduated in 3 years with a B.S. in Molecular Biochemistry & Biophysics. He also taught undergraduate-level genetics during medical school at the University of Michigan, from which he graduated with research honors. His passion for teaching drives many of the technological innovations at Gunner Training. Frank is also Gunner’s Founder and Chief Medical Officer.
Tim Ahfeldt
Author (General Chemistry)
Tim is a PhD student and researcher at the Massachusetts General Hospital’s Center for Regenerative Medicine. In the lab, he creates disease models using human embryonic and human induced pluripotent stem cells. His favorite model uses these cells to study the role of adipocytes (fat cells) in obesity. One of Tim’s greatest pleasures has been serving as a teaching fellow and developing a popular Harvard undergraduate science class. Before coming to Cambridge, Tim graduated with a perfect grade point average in his studies of biochemistry and molecular biology in Hamburg, Germany. He also holds a degree in public administration and criminal justice. He looks fondly back on his adventures investigating serious crimes in his hometown, Berlin, Germany; he is happy to have found his place in the U.S. in medical research and education.
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