Melvin Osei Opoku

Hello, I'm

Melvin Osei Opoku

Get in Touch: oseimelvin@gmail.com

About Me

Learn about my Journey to the USđŸ‡ș🇾

Princeton Neuroscience Institute Poster Presentation

Motivation

The Mind-Body Problem

With only two operational states—excited or inhibited, and roughly 100 billion neurons forging trillions of interconnections, the human brain remains a profound mystery, generating experiences such as dreams, emotions, memory, and consciousness. Even understanding these on/off neural patterns is daunting, let alone linking them to a person’s instinct to tell right from wrong. It amazes me that this organ, so central to our identity, remains elusive despite its importance.

Moreover, practical applications of neuroscience—ranging from neural networks in artificial intelligence to deep brain stimulation in medicine, have already shown transformative potential of the field, all based on the little we have uncovered so far. Unlocking the deeper mechanisms of neural computation thus holds immeasurable promise for humanity. As a result, the field urgently needs dedicated, curious researchers, and it is my ultimate goal to answer neuroscience’s most critical questions.

Resume

As of January 2025

Education

BSc Biomedical Engineering, Minor in Electrical Engineering, Certificate in AI Fundamentals and Application

May 2026

University of Florida, Gainesville, FL

  • Honors Program
  • Focus in Neural Engineering

Research Experience

Undergraduate Research Assistant

August 2023 - Present

Brain Mapping Lab, University of Florida, Gainesville

  • Developed multimodal pipelines (EMG, audio, video), improving tic detection by 70%
  • Built machine learning algorithms for automated tic detection in Tourette patients
  • Presented findings at the BMES 2024 Annual Meeting

Research Intern

June 2025 - August 2025

Lewis Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

  • Segmented HERCULES-edited MRS data using EEG-based sleep stage classification
  • Quantified changes in 13 brain metabolites across healthy and depressed subjects
  • Assisted in overnight polysomnography and MRI data acquisition in human studies

Research Intern

June 2024 - August 2024

Princeton University, Princeton, NJ

  • Analyzed FlyWire connectome data on Drosophila LC11 neurons for structure-function relationships
  • Discovered inhibitory synapse predominance, challenging the "end-stopped" model
  • Performed split-GAL4 genetic experiments to complement computational work
  • Presented findings at Society for Neuroscience (SfN) 2024

Research Intern

January 2023 – December 2023

American Society of Pharmacognosy, University of Florida, Gainesville

  • Expressed and purified UbiA terpene synthases in a GGPP-E. coli overproduction system
  • Screened 32 enzymes, identifying 5 novel diterpene synthase functions
  • Applied molecular docking and mutagenesis to characterize activity
  • Co-authored 3 publications (Nature Communications, ScienceDirect) with 1 under review
  • Presented findings at the 2023 American Society for Pharmacognosy Annual Meeting

Resident Assistant

August 2023 – May 2025

Housing and Residential Life, University of Florida | Gainesville, FL

  • Devise events to encourage community belonging among 32 residents
  • Enforce community standards and policies to ensure a safe and supportive living environment
  • Serve in an on-call rotation by responding to emergencies and crises

INVOLVEMENT & SERVICE

Product Design

August 2023 – Present

Generational Relief in Prosthetics, University of Florida | Gainesville, FL

  • Designed and optimized the “Unlimbited” prosthetic arm using SolidWorks
  • 3D printed and conducted non-destructive testing on the prosthetic arm

Undergraduate Teaching Assistant

August 2023 – December 2023

Secrets of Alchemy, University of Florida | Gainesville, FL

  • Graded lab reports and provide helpful feedback
  • Held office hours to a class of 60 students
  • Assisted instructor in preparing the lab, supporting students during lab, and cleaning up after

Director of International Students Affairs

August 2022 – May 2024

Student Government, University of Florida | Gainesville, FL

  • Administered mentorship to international students to ensure VISA status management
  • Planned events to facilitate international students’ involvement on campus

Awards

As of September 2025

AI Scholars Program

$1750 research stipend for my work in the Brain Mapping Lab. I continue to develop a ML algorithm for automation of tic detection

University Scholars Program

$1750 research stipend for my work in the Brain Mapping Lab. I develop a ML algorithm for automation of tic detection

UF Hamilton Center Society Fellow

$2,500 stipend and a funded trip to Oxford and Cambridge University

Certificate of Outstanding Merit

from the College of Engineering in recognition of my work as an international student

Davis United World Scholar

$192,000 fully funded University of Florida undergraduate degree

American Society of Pharmacognosy

$5000 research stipend in support of my work at the Rudolf Lab working on natural products synthesis

Research Projects

As of January 2025

  • All
  • Ongoing
  • Completed
  • Publications-Posters

Characterizing Neurochemical Signatures of Sleep Stages

via Simultaneous MRS-EEG

ML Automation of Tourette Tic Detection

for patients with deep brain stimulation devices

Neural Wiring Data Analysis

of the optic lobe of a drosophila with reference to functional data

Natural Products Discovery

using biosynthetic pathways

Simultaneous EEG-MRS poster

MIT

First Publication

Co-authord a biosynthesis paper

Second Publication

Manuscript available, yet to be published

Natural products poster

American Society of Pharmacognosy

Connectomics Poster

Princeton Neuroscience Institute

Let's get Personal 😊

Learn about my hobbies and interests!

1. How do I spend my free time??

Aside watching brain videos, I play soccer and watch the Premier League (Manchester United Fan here!).

2. What is my secret talent?

Singing, a lot of Coldplay!

3. Fav Movie or Series?

It's gotta be The Office! Fav movie is hard to pick but i'll choose the "before" triology

4. How do I wind down after a long day?

Running and debating philosophical ideas with friends

5. Fun fact most people don't know about me?

I spent 14 days backpacking in the Pecos Wilderness, NM

Let's Work Together đŸ€

Email

oseimelvin@gmail.com