That realization set Morrison on a path that led him to earn undergraduate degrees in both philosophy and chemistry before pursuing a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. There, he investigated N-degrons, the molecular signature cells use to target  and degrade proteins.

"I consider scientific endeavors to be genuine philosophical enterprises," he said. "The molecular interactions governing our world felt every bit as profound as the philosophical questions I'd started with."

His path into science paired with his passion for the field earned Morrison the prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Gilliam Postdoc Fellowship in 2021. The fellowship supports emerging scientists by placing them in labs where they are mentored by HHMI investigators.

Today, Morrison is a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Stowers Assistant Investigator Kamena Kostova, Ph.D. Kostova was named as a 2025 HHMI Freeman Hrabowski Scholar, a prestigious honor that recognizes exceptional early-career faculty with the potential to lead both in their scientific fields and in building exceptional research environments.

Empowered by the support of Kostova’s lab, Morrison continues asking fundamental questions about how cells function. His research focuses on the intersection of protein synthesis and protein degradation, specifically how cells recognize when the ribosome—the molecular machine responsible for building proteins—has itself become defective.

"For decades, research focused primarily on what happens when the template for protein synthesis, messenger RNA, is defective," Morrison said. "Comparatively little is known about what happens when the molecular machine that synthesizes proteins, the ribosome itself, is defective."

He summarizes the problem with a simple question: "How does the cell recognize a broken machine rather than a broken message?"

Questions like that are exactly what drew Morrison to the Institute.

"I was drawn to Stowers for its philosophy of funding people to pursue high-risk, high-reward science rather than narrowly defined projects," he said. "That act of peering into the unknown and making discoveries is what gets me out of bed every morning."

He also credits Kostova’s mentorship and approach to scientific research. "Her work convinced me that Stowers was the right place to pursue these questions.”

Morrison's unique journey that led him to pursue foundational research has also shaped the way he views scientific success. Looking back, he sees those early years as a reminder that scientists can emerge from unexpected places.

"It's strange to think how many people believed in me before I believed in myself," he said.

That perspective made receiving the Gilliam Fellowship during graduate school especially meaningful.

"That recognition meant a great deal," Morrison said. "Everything I've accomplished is tied to the communities that invested in me before I believed in myself."

The fellowship also connected him with a nationwide community of scientists and mentors, reinforcing another lesson that has stayed with him throughout his career: scientific discovery is rarely a solitary pursuit.

"I have an insatiable curiosity, and there's truly nothing like the feeling of discovering something new," Morrison said. "In my heart of hearts, I am a biologist."

Learn more about the Kostova Lab here.