Dr. Max was born and raised in coastal Southern California and grew up surrounded by ocean life and has cultivated a life-long passion for marine conservation. He completed is undergraduate studies at the University of Southern California, graduate school at Cambridge University, and veterinary school at the University of Florida, where undertook extensive post-graduate training in Aquatic Animal Medicine. He has practiced and taught marine animal medicine and conservation in Costa Rica, Belize, the Maldives, Ecuador and Mexico.

Prior to veterinary school, Dr. Max founded and led a biotech company focused on developing novel advances in organ transplantation. This led to the invention and approval of the world’s first artificial life support system for organs awaiting transplant. More recently, Dr. Max served as Medical Director of Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary, the largest new world monkey sanctuary in North America. Here, he was responsible for the transfer and care of the “FDA Boys’, the very first animals of any species retired by the FDA to a sanctuary.

Dr. Max currently serves as veterinarian at Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Florida, overseeing one of the busiest sea turtle hospitals in the world. He also is very active in establishing the Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Centre Alliance, based in the Maldives. In his spare time, he enjoys teaching surfing and yoga.