Team

About Tiffany Chen

Tiffany is a second year MCDB major and Biomedical Research minor. She founded High-tech and Neuro-Disorders (HAND) to bridge together healthcare and technology, in order to connect students with medical and industry professionals, and spark innovation and collaboration within the community. From promoting mental wellness to treating movement disorders, biotechnology combines hands-on patient care with cutting-edge research, which Tiffany hopes to expand upon at UCLA by bringing together students of all majors, ranging from microbiology to business economics. As co-inventor of iStopShaking, Tiffany is part of a startup to begin developing the three IoT devices to treat patients with Parkinson’s disease, with the devices using miniaturized gyroscopes to stabilize essential tremors. Outside of HAND, Tiffany enjoys golfing, advocating for public health, and performing (remote) research with a neuroscience lab.

Year: Sophomore
Major: Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology
Minor: Biomedical Research
Email: Tiffany@handucla.org

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About Saumya Tawakley

Saumya is a 1st year student at UCLA majoring in neuroscience, and she is very excited to serve as the Vice President of Internal Affairs this year! Saumya first developed an interest in neuroscience after leading a brain dissection in a high school premed club; there she realized that neuroscience provides the perfect intersection between studying the physical components of the brain and body, such as neurons and circuits, and the more abstract components, namely thinking and consciousness. She is especially interested in learning more about the non-invasive advancements being made to treat individuals with neurological disorders. Outside of academics, Saumya enjoys creative writing, tutoring, and hiking.

Year: Freshman
Major: Neuroscience
Email: Saumya@handucla.org

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About Ashley Kim

Ashley Kim is a freshman studying Psychobiology on a pre-med track. She is in charge of External Affairs for HAND. Ashley was the president of her high school’s Neuroscience Club, where she organized events such as sheep brain dissections and guest speakers. Ashley developed an interest in neuroscience after volunteering at an organization for children on the autistic spectrum. She is interested in developmental and neurological disorders and hopes to pursue a career in pediatric neurology. Ashley is excited to contribute to HAND and to learn more about the challenging, mysterious aspects of neuroscience and its uncharted territories. Outside of school, Ashley enjoys doodling, learning k-pop dances, and watching random YouTube videos.

Year: Freshman
Major: Psychobiology on a pre-med track
Email: Ashley@handucla.org

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About Nitin Subramanian

Nitin is a first year Computational Biology major from Cupertino! Nitin is really passionate about the intersection of technology and healthcare and using computation to push the boundaries in various fields. He first got interested in the intersection of computation and medicine when he interned at the University of California, San Francisco where he analyzed vaccine response data to assess gaps in vaccine treatment. In his free time, Nitin is a competitive Rubik’s Cube solver and long distance runner! He has competed at over 40 Rubik’s Cube competitions across the country, and loves sharing his passion with the world. As for running, he spent four years on his high school varsity Cross Country team, and enjoys being outside in the fresh air!

Year: Freshman
Major: Computational Biology
Email: Nitin@handucla.org

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About Dr. Marlius Castillo

A native of Venezuela, Marlius received her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Carabobo, Valencia, Venezuela in 2008. She then went on to Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas to study and synthetize fluorescent dyes with Professor Sergei V. Dzyuba in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. She received her Ph.D. in 2019 with a focus in organic chemistry and spectroscopy. As a graduate student, Marlius was first author on two published research papers and co-author on four published papers. She was the recipient of a 2018-19 Science and Engineering Research Center (SERC) graduate research grant at TCU for her project titled “Ratiometric molecular rotors for determining phase-transitions of gels, waxes, and polymer films”. Marlius joined UCLA in August 2019 as a Cram Teacher-Scholar. She conducts postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Professor Miguel Garcia-Garibay, studying synthesis and applications of fluorescent molecules, and she teaches Structures of Organic Molecules (14C).

Title: Faculty Advisor
Department: Chemistry & Biochemistry
Email: marlius@chem.ucla.edu

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About Dr. Darlene A. Mayo

Dr. Darlene A. Mayo (née Lobel) is a board certified neurosurgeon who is internationally known as an expert in the treatment of essential tremor and other movement disorders. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Duke University and her Medical Doctorate from Medical College of Georgia. She completed clinical fellowships in Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery and Epilepsy at UCLA and Emory, finishing training in 2007. She also completed two research fellowships, first in Grenoble, France, where she worked for two years with Professor Alim-Louis Benabid at Clinatec on the clinical protocol and implementation of a brain computer interface system, designed to aid quadriplegic patients. She then completed a fellowship in the Neural Engineering Laboratory at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where she worked on the design and preclinical assessment of an intraspinal microstimulation system to restore neurologic function after spinal cord injury. Dr. Mayo worked for two years as a Neurosurgeon and Assistant Professor at University of Florida-Jacksonville and for nearly five years as a Neurosurgeon and Associate Professor of Neurosurgery and Biomedical Engineering at the Cleveland Clinic, where she had a busy practice treating patients with essential tremor and Parkinson’s disease. She also co-led an essential tremor support group for two years in the Cleveland area.

Title: Medical Advisor
Full Biography: avucamd.com/about/

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About Dr. Jacqueline M. Chen

Dr. Jacqueline Chen is a podiatry specialist in Frederick, MD. Dr. Chen completed a residency at Aria Health and currently practices at Frederick Foot and Ankle and is affiliated with Frederick Health. Dr. Chen is board certified in Podiatric Orthopedics and Primary Podiatric Medicine.

Title: Medical Advisor
Education:
-Doctorate of Podiatric Medicine | Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine
-Bachelor of Science, Major: Biology, Minor: Asian American Studies | University of Maryland College Park
Residency- Post Graduate Training:
-Medicine and Foot & Ankle Surgery | Aria-Jefferson Health – Philadelphia, PA, 2015-2018
Hospital Affiliations:
-Frederick Memorial Hospital - Frederick, MD | Present
-Frederick Foot & Ankle ASC - Frederick, MD | Present
-Thomas Johnson Surgery Center - Frederick, MD | Present
Professional Affiliations: American Podiatric Medical Association

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About Lee Felsenstein

Lee Felsenstein has been designing electronic circuits, systems and products for over 40 + years. A graduate of the College of Engineering at the University of California at Berkeley, Lee’s active interest in electronics dates back to childhood. Involvement in establishing the first public-access computer social media system led to his immersion in the embryonic personal computer industry, where he designed several pioneering products, including the first commercially successful portable computer. He designed the meeting structure of the legendary Homebrew Computer Club and ran the meetings for the 11-year existence of the club. This extraordinarily productive club spawned at least 23 personal computer companies including Apple. Lee has operated two independent electronic design consulting companies, was the first researcher hired at Interval Research Corporation, where he ran the prototype development section, and has 23 patents issued in his name. He was a founding director of Osborne Computer Corporation and serves on the Intellectual Property Committee of the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). Lee is a Fellow of the Computer History Museum and was named a Pioneer of the Electronic Frontier in 1994 (Electronic Frontier Foundation).

Title: Engineering Advisor

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About Dr. Jeff Bronstein

Jeff Bronstein received his bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley and M.D. and Ph.D. from UCLA as a recipient of the Medical Scientist Training Program Award. He completed a residency in Neurology and fellowship training in Movement Disorders at UCLA and at Queens Square in London. Dr. Bronstein also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in molecular biology before being appointed an Assistant Professor of Neurology in 1994, Director of the Movement Disorders Program at UCLA in 1996 and Director of the Wilson’s Disease Center of Excellence in 2004. He was promoted to Professor of Neurology in 2006, Professor of Molecular Toxicology in 2007 and awarded the Fred Silton Family Chair in Movement Disorders in 2016. His clinical interests include the management of Parkinson’s disease (PD) and other movement disorders, surgical treatment of PD, and developing new therapies for patients. Dr. Bronstein’s research interests include the study of the causes of PD (environmental and genetic) using cell and zebrafish models as well as population-based studies.

Title: Medical Advisor

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About Dr. Martin McKeown

Dr. McKeown is the PPRI/UBC Chair in Parkinson’s Research, Director at the Pacific Parkinson’s Research Centre (PPRC), Professor in the Department of Medicine, and associate member in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of British Columbia, Canada. The PPRC is deemed an International Centre of Excellence by the (US-based) National Parkinson’s Foundation. He did his Engineering Physics, Medicine and Neurology training at McMaster, University of Toronto, and University of Western Ontario, respectively. He did a 3yr research fellowship at the Computational Neurobiology Laboratory at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego before being hired as an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Biomedical Engineering at Duke University. He was recruited to UBC in 2003.His interests include examining novel treatments for Parkinson’s and exploring how Engineering methods can be used to enrich the lives of people with Parkinson’s.

Title: Medical Advisor

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About Dr. Ana Luisa Trejos

Dr. Trejos's research has focused on the design, integration and evaluation of mechatronic devices that are aimed at providing medical care. This experience led her to establish the Wearable Biomechatronics Laboratory in 2013, dedicated to the design of wearable mechatronic devices for upper body rehabilitation and motion assistance, including wearable devices for tremor suppression and smart orthotic devices for elbow, wrist, hand and neck rehabilitation. Her research has focused on designing novel sensing and actuation components, creating models based on sensed biosignals, and developing intelligent and adaptive control systems, as well as their overall integration into unobtrusive wearable mechatronic devices.

Title: Engineering Advisor

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About Aarti Jain

Aarti is a third-year neuroscience major. She is the Education Director for HAND. She joined UCLA HAND because of its mission to raise awareness about neurological diseases and connect individuals with professionals in neuroscience fields. Her interest in neuroscience started in high school when she took a cognitive neuroscience class and learned more about the various pharmacological treatments and therapies available for Alzheimer’s. Currently, she is interested in learning more about the neurological aspects of traumatic brain injuries, such as strokes and concussions. Other than academics, Aarti loves watching Bollywood movies, going on runs, and listening to music.

Year: Junior
Major: Neuroscience

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About Sravya Sankar

Sravya is a second-year Psychobiology and serves as the Outreach Director of HAND. She will be in charge of recruiting speakers and organizing volunteer events for members. Sravya first discovered her passion for Neuroscience while volunteering at a Brain Injury Rehabilitation Center and continues to work with patients affected by Neurological Disorders at UCLA. Aside from school, Sravya enjoys taking her dog on long walks on the beach, hiking, and listening to podcasts.

Year: Sophomore
Major: Psychobiology

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About Pauline Young

Pauline is a second year premed student majoring in psychobiology and is currently the Marketing and Recruitment Director of HAND. She first realized her interest in neuroscience while shadowing at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles a couple years back. After taking a neurosci fiat lux fall quarter of her freshman year, Pauline solidified her passion for this field and is currently volunteering at a research lab at the UCLA Brain Research Institute. She is passionate about healthcare as well as serving the community and is eager to explore the intersectionality of medicine, engineering, and entrepreneurship. Outside of academics, Pauline’s hobbies include swimming, digital designing, and sleeping.

Year: Sophomore
Major: Psychobiology

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About Archi Bhattacharyaa

Hello! My name is Archi Bhattacharyaa, I am a third year biophysics major, and I will be your Finance Director for this year! I am very excited to help secure funding for the club through VC pitches, meeting with NGO's, and a variety of other places. I can't wait to see the exciting things we build! I am super passionate about Neurotech and believe it to be the next frontier of scientific advancement. I am particularly fascinated with the application of Quantum Computing and the unique advancements that could bring to the table for this growing field. Besides my academic interests, I love to make music and play trombone for the UCLA Symphony. In my free time you can usually catch me playing Soccer or Basketball with my friends, or (unsuccessfully) trying to win in Fantasy.

Year: Junior
Major: Biophysics

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About Sripad Sureshbabu

Sripad Sureshbabu is a first-year Neuroscience major from Cupertino High School who is devoted to biology and its future intersection with technology. In high school, he created a 1st-place project in Biological Sciences at the Synopsys Science Fair and is also a two-time semifinalist for the USABO. At UCLA’s HAND, he hopes to translate his love for neuroscience into biotechnology that can mitigate the symptoms of, and reverse the degenerative impact of neurological disorders. He is on the pre-med track and hopes to one day work as a physician, where he can have a greater impact at mitigating illnesses within underrepresented communities using affordable computational solutions. Sripad is also an advocate for the immense value technology can have in combating infectious diseases, even speaking at a TEDx conference in 2019 on how programming biological systems can prevent superbugs and pandemics. Outside of HAND, Sripad loves spending his free time reading and playing basketball.

Year: Freshman
Major: Neuroscience

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About Jane Burgan

Jane is a 3rd year neuroscience major and public affairs minor. 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 is super excited to be the innovation team director, where she will conduct market product/neuroscience research and work with the engineering division to create a iStopShaking prototype proposal that will be built. Outside of HAND, she enjoys playing volleyball, running, and trying to make edm on garageband.

Year: Junior
Major: Neuroscience

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