English is my native language, and German was the first non-native language that I learned. Following two years of German courses as a Minor at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, Georgia, USA), I was an exchange student for one year from Georgia Tech to the Technische Universität Berlin in then West Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany.

I then pursued a career as a medical scientist, beginning with the receipt of an MD in Medicine and a PhD in Neuropharmacology from Emory University School of Medicine (Atlanta, Georgia, USA). Following an Internship in Internal Medicine at Emory and a Neurology Residency at Duke University Medical Center (Durham, North Carolina, USA), I served on the Neurology Senior Staff at Duke as an Attending Neurologist and I directed my Neurobiological Research Lab at Duke as a Principal Investigator for twelve years. 

I spent the next twenty-two years in the biopharmaceutical industry or in the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In the biopharma industry, I designed and oversaw the conduct of global clinical trials in neurological and non-neurological conditions. At FDA I analyzed clinical trial designs and clinical trial safety and efficacy data that were submitted by biopharmaceutical companies; I regulated the conduct of these trials; and I participated in the drug approval process as the primary clinical reviewer. The areas of my purview at FDA were in neurodegenerative and neuromuscular conditions (e.g., Alzheimer's disease, ALS, Duchenne muscular dystrophy and myasthenia gravis, among many others); and for a short time in assuring clinical trial suitability and safety surveillance in Covid-19.

Following my retirement from this first career in 2021, I began preparation for a completely different second career that would involve the fluent use of the German language.  After many months of classroom immersion courses at the Goethe Institut in Berlin, Germany, I obtained the Goethe Institut's C1-Certificate in August, 2022. This certificate is internationally recognized to attest fluency in the German language. In December, 2022 I completed four courses in Georgia Tech's Masters Program in Applied Languages and Intercultural studies in order to enhance my knowledge of German literature and my ability to work in an international cross-cultural environment (GPA 4.0 out of maximum 4.0).

I am now fully prepared to provide German-to-English (preferred) and English-to-German translations, preferably using written texts as sources. My areas of familiarity include general, medical, and scientific texts.