Austin Gabel
B.S. Biological Sciences
Summa Cum Laude
Hometown: Clarksville, Maryland
Plans: M.D./Ph.D., University of Washington

Dr. Brewster and other lab members have helped encourage and teach me to become a confident scientist over the past four years, and my minors in Spanish and sociology helped refine my interests to focus on links between basic biology and social determinants of health.

As a Meyerhoff, MARC U*STAR, and HHMI Scholar, Austin Gabel’s time at UMBC has been highly research-driven. He has worked in Rachel Brewster’s developmental biology lab since his freshman year, seeking to learn more about how zebrafish embryos can survive in low-oxygen environments. This work has numerous potential applications, from organ transplant technology to stroke and heart attack treatment.

An image of a zebrafish embryo Austin Gabel produced as part of his research in Rachel Brewster’s lab.

“One thing I enjoy about the Brewster lab is that I’m in charge of my own projects,” Gabel shares. “I really like this work and want to continue with research along these lines.” He plans to do that as he pursues combined M.D./Ph.D. degrees at the University of Washington. He hopes to eventually apply his research in clinical settings, to see directly how it benefits patients.

In addition to working in Brewster’s lab, Gable gained research experience at Johns Hopkins University. He also served as president of UMBC’s Food Recovery Network, a student organization that seeks to reduce food waste by recovering surplus perishable food and donating it to people in need.

Portrait by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.