Essix Moser, a December graduate of Kennesaw State University (KSU), has combined his interests in hockey and neuroscience during his time at the university. He will receive a bachelor’s degree in biology and has applied to doctoral programs to further study neurological development.
Moser moved from California to Georgia with his family before enrolling at KSU in 2021. Initially focused on academics, he became involved with the university’s ice and roller hockey clubs after meeting team members on campus. “One day on the Campus Green, my roommate was talking to a couple of the guys on the hockey team, and he pointed them my way,” Moser said. “They came over and talked me into joining the team. Ever since, I’ve played with both the ice hockey and roller hockey teams, competing at regional and national levels.”
In addition to sports, Moser worked as an undergraduate research assistant in a biochemistry laboratory during summer 2024. This experience led him to professor Martin Hudson’s neuroscience lab, where he explored how neurological development can go wrong—a subject of personal interest due to his own diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). “Why do I have to focus on sitting still in lecture when everyone else is lasered in?” Moser said. “I had this very introspective experience of wondering what happened in my brain development to lead to these behavioral outcomes. That eventually led my desire to understand and pursue neuroscience.”
The Hudson lab uses nematodes as model organisms for studying neurodevelopmental disorders. Through this work, Moser contributed discoveries related to transcription factor regulation that may help inform future therapeutics for neurological conditions. Professor Hudson noted Moser’s dedication: “Essix has been highly engaged in his work, which will contribute to one or more peer-reviewed publications, and helped to secure research grant from the National Institutes of Health,” Hudson said. “He clearly has the smarts to excel in graduate school, and he had to balance his time between sports, research and classwork, so I have no doubt he’ll succeed.”
Moser presented research findings at several academic conferences this year—including KSU’s Symposium of Student Scholars as well as meetings hosted by professional societies—and continued his studies last summer as a Birla Carbon Scholar.
Reflecting on his time at KSU, Moser said: “Kennesaw State did not just give me an education, but also a community, a purpose, and the confidence to take the next step in my life,” he said. “For that, I am deeply grateful, and I carry that gratitude forward as I look ahead to the challenges and opportunities of graduate study in neuroscience.”
