A Searcy native, he holds a Ph.D. in bioengineering from the University of Utah. Prior to teaching at the University, he worked at St. Louis Children's Hospital in Missouri. During the summer of 2008, he consulted for G6 Inc., a Salt Lake City company, aiding in the design of a device for blocking nerve impulses using large, time-varying magnetic fields. This work incorporated information he developed as a part of his doctoral studies. A portion of this research is currently under review for a patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.