Jordan Fuqua, Ph.D.

Jordan is unique in the Miller lab in that he was born and raised in Oklahoma.

Jordan initially became enamored with science through Coldplay’s “The Scientist.” Jordan is what is known as a “Playger” – a hard-core fan of the band Coldplay. He used to travel from city to city following Coldplay as they perform. He made his traveling money by selling HotPockets, home-printed T-shirts, and Evian water to other concert-goers before and after the start of each show. Jordan has been to over 100 Coldplay concerts at this point.

In Jordan’s own words, “You’d think hearing them play the same setlist and songs night after night is crazy, but you just don’t get it! The nuances between them playing Fix You in Dallas then Fix You the next night in Houston is sublime! Sometimes they drop more confetti than balloons during Yellow, and sometimes there are more balloons than confetti!”

In between Coldplay tours, Jordan attended Brigham Young University as an undergrad than a graduate student.

He got his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa, primarily concerned with autophagy in skeletal muscle, particularly gene regulation in ulk1 and ulk2. He ultimately determined that ulk2 is important.

While working in the Miller lab, Jordan wants to continue studying muscle proteostasis.

Jordan’s greatest joy in life is his kids and wife, closely followed would be to finally hear Coldplay perform “Twisted Logic” live as a complete ensemble.

Jordan enjoys gardening, sports (particularly college basketball), and Lord of the Rings.