Soumya Suresh is the chairperson for the biology department at ASDRP. The Suresh group is interested in applying tools of molecular biology, modern biotehcnology, and molecular genetics in understanding the world we live in. Soumya studied at UCSB and has several years of research experience in a variety of fields in the biosciences.

​Ankur Gupta serves as the Director of the Biomedical Science Research Cluster, and uses his expertise in molecular and cell biology to better understand the signal transduction pathways that are critical in development of and progression of cancer, including oncogene expression patterns.
 

Avery M. Kruger’s lab performs research in the area of environmental biology, ecology, biodiversity, and evolution - using the tools of molecular biology and biotechnology to better understand the ecology of the Bay Area. Further, his research works on issues of environmental remediation and pollution, including attenuating chemical waste and the human environmental footprint.

The Brah lab investigates protein-ligand interactions, enzyme kinetics, and the thermodynamics of protein folding through both computational and empirical methods. The research in the Brah group is focused on issues of modern relevance in medicine from the perspective of biochemistry. 

Carly Truong, an experienced molecular neurobiologist, leads student research in the area of molecular and cell biology, understanding the role of specific signaling pathways in cell pathology. Her group will be working with sophisticated techniques in cell culture and cell signaling with a focus on present clinical issues. Carly is affiliated with the Biomedical cluster.

Katelyn has obtained her M.S. in Clinical Psychology. She is completing her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Palo Alto University with an emphasis in forensics and neuropsychology. Katelyn has worked in labs that focus on neuropsychological assessment, neuroscience, social psychology, and cognitive psychology. Her current research interests include investigating perceptions of mental illness and forensic populations, rehabilitation of offenders, and brain-behavior relationships among offenders. She enjoys being able to apply her research to her clinical work in the criminal justice system with forensic populations who have serious mental illness.

Gayathri is an experienced medicinal biochemist interested in pushing forwards the frontiers of molecular medicine. She received her M.Pharm in Pharmaceutical Analysis from Anna University and has several years of experience as a lecturer, and in quality control and in inorganic/analytical biochemistry. The Renganathan research group applies small molecule phytochemistry in a robust drug discovery platform towards understanding the molecular mechanisms of human disease. Additionally, the group uses a variety of biophysical computational tools to understand the interaction of small molecules with their protein targets.The Renganathan research group works on the interface of chemistry and biology, using both experimental and computational techniques to find phytochemicals with clinical potential.

The Guo research group at ASDRP is interested in the psychology of depression, the effectiveness of various modern treatments to mitigate depression in certain populations, and the statistics of quantifying depression. James uses data science as a tool to derive overarching trends in clinical psychology and depression treatment.

Avity Norman is a biologist of invertebrates by training, and his students work on questions of insect behavior and insecticide remediation. His research interests span behavioral biology and quorum biology of organisms and chemical sensing in insects.

Professor Kaur's research interests involve using the tools of modern genetics and molecular biology, including PCR/qPCR, Sanger sequencing, and gel electrophoresis, to investigate dispersion of fungal species in the East Bay Area. Her research interests combine sophisticated genetics with ecology and environmental science.

Nardeen received her M.S. in microbiology and has several years of teaching and research experience. Her research interests involve understanding the biology, physiology, and life cycle of  diverse mycotoxin-producing fungi strains, which are associated with food spoilage. The Mikhail research group is affiliated with the Biomedical Research cluster and performs research in fungal microbiology.

Jack was trained at the Scripps Institute for Oceanographic Research in La Jolla, CA. His research group investigates modern issues in marine wildlife biology, including human pollution impact factors, and microbiology of symbiotes of tide pool invertebrates. The Shurtz group also works in understanding ecological impact of aquatic pollution throughout the East and North Bay Area.

Peter Le is an alumnus of UCLA and is currently a biologist at Stanford Medicine. His group at ASDRP investigates cellular phenomena at the molecular level in issues of clinical and biomedical significance, including cell aging and senesence, and gut microbiome diversity. Currently, his group is also working on virtual screening of drug repurposing against COVID-19.

Kavya is an experienced biochemist and COMET research fellow at Stanford. The Tallapaka research group aims to understand molecular mechanisms of medicine using biochemistry, enzymology, and molecular biology tools. This is pursued via spectroscopic monitoring of enzyme kinetics and mechanistic hypotheses about enzyme activity and inhibitors.

Arielle holds an M.A. in experimental psychology and has previously worked as a psychologist at Stanford Medical Center. Her research group this summer will be investigating various facets of human behavior using experimental psychology, including a project that aims to understand human interactions with the digital world.

Karishma is an experienced statistician who applies data science and R programming to uncover trends and risk factors in environmental system, including waterway pollution and habitat conservation. Karishma has a dual appointment in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering.

Dr. Gandhi holds an M.D. from the American University of Antigua and has an M.S. in Biomedical science from Midwestern University. Her research interests include naturally-derived small molecules from phytochemical sources that may serve as lead compounds in the development of therapeutics for clinical applications, including heart disease, Alzheimer's, etc.

Edward is a PhD candidate at Stanford University. Research in the group utilizes structure and reactivity-guided chemical synthesis to construct small molecules and complex natural products with unique biological activity. Edward is the chair for chemistry, biochemistry, and physical science and is affiliated with the Biomedical cluster.