ABOUT ANDREJ

My early experiences allow me to appreciate the safe, stable and supportive community that Upper Arlington provides.

I was born in Beijing shortly after Mao’s communist takeover of China. My father was a Czechoslovak diplomat, and my mother was an interpreter. Our family eventually moved to Prague. However, shortly after I finished junior high school, Czechoslovakia was invaded by the Soviet Union and our family became political refugees in the United Kingdom where I completed high school, attended college and received my PhD at London University. I arrived in the United States in 1978 to join a laboratory at the National Institutes of Health. Our work led to a better understanding of how neurons establish connections with each other. I continued to work in the field of neuroscience at the University of California and upon my arrival at the OSU Wexner Medical Center. I became a US citizen in 1990 and have lived in Upper Arlington for 30 years. I believe that running for the Upper Arlington city council is a way of returning to the community some of the benefits that I have received.

I have accumulated extensive leadership experience during my scientific career. I taught for many years and directed a long-term research program funded by the National Institutes of Health. At the national level, I led an NIH grant review group responsible for recommending millions of dollars for critical biomedical research programs and was a council member at the American Association of Medical Colleges, which formulates policies for medical education, research and practice in the US and Canada. Currently, I mentor several junior scientists throughout the US, and help them to focus their research topics and grant applications.

Since my retirement, my wife and I have enjoyed traveling, backpacking, and walking in Highbanks and along Griggs reservoir, where I go kayaking.