Michael Pienkos is an MS-2 at University of South Carolina-Columbia. In 2023, he graduated with a B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. As an undergraduate, he conducted laboratory research using mice models to explore genes involved in type 2 diabetes. Michael has been conducting trauma surgery research with HCA Healthcare since the summer of 2024. With the hopes of making immediate and lasting impacts on patients as a physician, Michael plans to practice in a surgical field.