Hi! I'm David, a

I spent my formative years in Tokyo, navigated adolescence in Hawai'i, then moved to the UK to study the brain and behavior. I'm interested in all aspects of the human condition, but especially the neurobiology of reward and how it can be usurped — by disease and by design.

October 2026: As my priorities continue to evolve, I've decided to take a break from maintaining this site. Accordingly, I've temporarily removed the menu bar with my subpages. If you're still interested later on, I hope you'll come back and can see what I've been working on.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." –Sarah Frances Brown 📎

Some Things I Believe

• The human condition is unfathomably terrifying, but equally beautiful.
• We are all equal as impostors, living for the first time, making it up as we go.
• Gratitude, forgiveness, and radical acceptance are healthier than trying to reason with an unfair universe.
• Fear of the event is worse than the event. (–Ray D. Thrower 📎)
• Time, comedy, and company are the best medicines for the heart.
• Sometimes all you need is to call a friend. Or to talk to anyone at all!
• Aesthetics have an inevitable influence on "objective" content assessment.
• Dichotomies are cognitively convenient but usually false and harmful.
• Complaining is rarely more effective than acting or adapting.
• Smiling at strangers makes the world a better place. :)
• Ultimately, it’s all about love. 📎
• No love, however brief, is wasted. 📎
• Everything works out in the end.