Dr. Isom was born and raised in the Cleveland area. He is a first-generation college graduate and academic. After spending two years at the Cleveland Institute of Art, he earned degrees in Biochemistry and Chemistry from Case Western Reserve University. He then went on to earn a PhD in Molecular Biophysics from Johns Hopkins University followed by postdocs at both Duke University and UNC, Chapel Hill. Dr. Isom was recruited to the Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology Department in 2016.