Dr. Wilson received his B.S. degree in biology (1986) and his M.S. degree in microbiology (1989) from the University of South Florida. He then received his Ph.D. (1996) degree from the the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at University of Florida College of Medicine. He was a postdoctoral research fellow in the laboratory of Drs. Neal Copeland and Nancy Jenkins at the National Cancer Institute in Frederick, MD (1997-2002). His postdoctoral research focused on the genetics of neuro-degeneration in mice. He joined the Department of Neurobiology at UAB in 2002.