Our former HAND officers played an integral role in our organization and we want to honor and showcase them.
Aarti Jain
Former Internal Vice President
Jane Burgan
Former IT Director (Research)
Crystal Zhou
Former Social Director
Saumya Tawakley
Former President
Anna Huang
Former Outreach and IT Teams
Pauline Young
Former PR Team
Ashley Kim
Former VP of Outreach
Jacob Nguyen
Former Outreach Team
Arlene Nguyen
Former PR Director
Robin Zhao
Former Outreach Team
About Aarti Jain
I graduated with a neuroscience major from Hercules, California in the Bay Area. I joined HAND because it gave me the opportunity a part of community that shared my passions for neuroscience and education. As Internal Vice President, I furthered my mission to raise awareness about neurological diseases and connected individuals with professionals in neuroscience fields.
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Post-grad: Medical School at New York Medical College
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Major: Neuroscience
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Positions served: Intenal Vice President, Education Director
About Jane Burgan
Jane majored in neuroscience with a minor in public affairs. Her favorite thing to do growing up was reading books, and she loved how the characters and stories transported her mind to different worlds. This piqued her interest in thinking, consciousness, and imagination. After interning at a Boston University research lab and joining a neurobiology lab at UCLA, she realized that she wanted to study neuroscience because it uses biology, physiology, and psychology to generate a more concrete understanding of neural circuits underlying our thought processes. She enjoyed working with HAND members as one of the innovation team directors. Outside of HAND, she enjoyed playing volleyball, lifting weights, and trying to make edm.
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Post-grad: Medical School at Stony Brook SOM
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Major: Neuroscience
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Favorite HAND Memory: Going to an IT dinner/social and just getting to meet everyone in person after the year of being online
About Crystal Zhou
Crystal majored in Psychobiology and served as the Social Director for HAND. "Thank you for such a wonderful experience, truly grateful for all the wonderful connections I’ve made here. Wishing the next gen members best of luck - hope to see istopshaking in the market one day soon :)”
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Post-grad: Medical School at DGSOM
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Major: Psychobiology
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Favorite HAND Memory: Meeting everyone in-person at our first social!
About Saumya Tawakley
Saumya majored in Neuroscience and served as the President for HAND during the 2023-2024 school year. "I graduated with a B.S. in Neuroscience from UCLA in 2023. During college, I was deeply involved with HAND, which really solidified my desire to pursue a career in medicine. I gained valuable insights through educational talks from researchers and physicians, patient panels, and interdisciplinary learning about neurological disorders. Working at a neurology research lab throughout my time at UCLA further fueled my interest in the scientific aspects of medicine. After graduating, I spent a year working at a clinic that treated infants with various cranial asymmetries. Each of these experiences was pivotal in shaping my desire to pursue medicine, and I look forward to further contributing to patient care and clinical practice in medical school!”
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Post-grad: Medical School at New York Medical College
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Major: Neuoscience
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Favorite HAND Memory: Annual NDAN and the countless socials!
About Anna Huang
Anna was on the Outreach and IT Teams for HAND. "I'm from Virginia and went to undergrad at UCLA. After undergrad, I took a gap year to work as a medical assistant and scribe and traveled. Now I'm back in Virginia for medical school. I love gymnastics, journaling, and traveling.”
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Post-grad: Medical School at VCU SOM
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Favorite HAND Memory: I loved working with people who were passionate about medicine and technology.
About Pauline Young
Pauline was on the PR Team for HAND. "Hi! My name is Pauline and I graduated UCLA in 2023 with a major in MCDB and minor in Biomedical Research. I am currently a first year medical student at UMass Chan School of Medicine and am particularly interested in the intersection between medical technology and anesthesia. In my free time I enjoy trying new matcha places and playing spikeball or pickleball with my friends!”
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Post-grad: Medical School at Umass Chan Medical School
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Major: MCDB
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Favorite HAND Memory: I loved working with people who were passionate about medicine and technology.
About Ashley Kim
Ashley was the Vice President of Outreach for HAND for the 2022-2023 school year. "I changed from pre-med to pre-dental right before graduation…! There were many factors that influenced my decision, but I'm ultimately very happy with the switch. I still have a soft spot for all things neuroscience and neurotechnology. During undergrad, I was heavily involved in psychiatry research and related clubs.”
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Post-grad: Gap year as an orthodontic assistant before applying to dental school
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Favorite HAND Memory: Meeting wonderful and driven people in a smaller community, solidifying my passion for neuroscience, and the opportunity to teach other students of all age groups.
About Jacob Nguyen
Jacob was on the Outreach Team in HAND. "Hi everyone! I was a member of HAND for three years while I was at UCLA and would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to explore the field of neuroscience. I graduated with a major in biochemistry and minor in biomedical research, and worked at a TMS clinic during my gap year before starting medical school.”
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Post-grad: Medical student at California University of Science and Medicine
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Favorite HAND Memory: Creating a curriculum and hosting workshops at different schools!
About Arlene Nguyen
Arlene was the PR Director for HAND for the 2023-2024 school year. "I'm from Orange County, CA, and I recently graduated from UCLA in 2024 with a B.S. in Psychobiology. I'm currently working as a medical scribe for a neurology clinic, and I plan on applying to medical school. When I'm not working, I love to attend music festivals and concerts, go to pilates classes, and read psychological thrillers!”
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Post-grad: Working as a medical scribe at a neurology clinic before applying to med school
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Favorite HAND Memory: I really enjoyed forming relationships with driven, like-minded individuals while also learning and contributing in raising awareness about neurological disorders.
About Robin Zhao
Robin was a member of the Outreach Team for HAND. "Robin is a graduate of the class of 2023 and was a past Outreach Director for HAND. Currently, he is in his post-grad years as the data manager and clinical research assistant for both NIH Bridge2AI Voice and the Sean Parker Institute for the Voice at Weill Cornell Medicine. His research focuses on integrating voice as a biomarker of health into artificial intelligence and clinical care, aiming to assist in the screening and treatment of a wide range of diseases. As a person with hearing loss, Robin is particularly interested in extending the benefits of artificial intelligence in medicine to the d/Deaf and hard of hearing community. In the future, he hopes to continue his research on artificial intelligence, healthcare disparities in the hearing loss community, and social determinants of health, with the dream of attending medical school.”
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Post-grad: Taking two gap years to perform research with the NIH at Weill Cornell Medicine. Applying this cycle for medical school.
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Favorite HAND Memory: Meeting all of the wonderful and smart people in the organization. Everyone is so friendly, and seeing the club grow from something small to what it is now is quite exhilarating. We should all be proud of the founding executive team, especially Tiffany, for starting such an amazing organization, focused on bringing happiness back to those suffering from Parkinson's disease!