Leadership & Administration

Director of Operations
David Linnevers
Over two decades of experience in working in higher education administration and admissions at institutions such as UCLA Medical School.

Director of Research & Development
Edward Njoo
Experienced organic chemist, educator, scientist, and Ph.D. candidate at Stanford University. Co-author on multiple peer-reviewed papers in biochemistry, chemical biology, and organic synthesis.

Director of Educational Outreach
Ankur Gupta
Graduate of U.C. Berkeley, current M.D. candidate at Louisville. Experienced molecular and cell biologist passionate about translational science and biomedical education.
Board Member
Phil Mui
Phil Mui, Ph.D., is Senior Vice President of Technology in Salesforce, and of the Office of the CTO. He received his S.B., M.Eng., and Ph.D. from MIT, and an M.Phil as a Marshall Scholar at Oxford.

Director of Admissions
Jimmy Qian
Current M.D. candidate at Stanford Medical School, several years of research experience in theoretical systems biology. Holds an M.S. in Chemistry, B.A. in Biophysics from the University of Pennsylvania.
Chair of CS & Engineering
Robert Downing
Four decades of experience in the high-tech and data systems industry (3COM, IBM, etc.) and as a professor and instructor at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Director of Communications
Avery Kruger
Ecologist and marine wildlife scientist with extensive research experience in ecology, evolution, and marine biology. Avery has previously been editor in chief of our student journal.
Chair, Biological & Life Sciences
Sahar Jahanikia
Experienced neuroimaging researcher and data analyst with knowledge in Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuroimaging, Behavioral Sciences, Design Thinking, and Bioinformatics.
OCF Board of Directors

Board President
Joni Jen
Educator and founder of Olive Children Foundation with over a decade of experience in education and in community service in the Fremont and greater East Bay Area.

Board Member
Tammy Long
Tammy holds a Master's of Education from CSU East Bay and a Master's in Christian Formation from North Park Seminary.

Board Member
Edward Njoo
Experienced organic chemist, educator, scientist, and Ph.D. candidate at Stanford University. Co-author on multiple peer-reviewed papers in biological and organic chemistry.
Research Investigators
Robert Downing
Data Science, Machine Learning, Applied Engineering, & Astrophysics
Four decades of experience in the high-tech and data systems industry (3COM, IBM, etc.) and as a professor and instructor at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
Sahar Jahanikia
Neuroimaging, Bioinformatics
Experienced neuroimaging researcher and data analyst with knowledge in Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuroimaging, Behavioral Sciences, Design Thinking, and Bioinformatics. Extensive experience in designing, collecting, and analyzing state of art neuroimaging studies using all forms of modality (fMRI, NIRS, EEG, simultaneous EEG-fMRI). Co-author of multiple neuroimaging research papers.
Clinton Cunha
Bioinformatics
Clinton has a Masters in Bioinformatics (University of Guelph) and a Masters of Science in Cellular and Molecular Medicine (University of Ottawa). He also has an Honors Bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences (Carnegie Mellon University). His main areas of focus include Bioinformatics, Data Analysis, Python programming, Biology, Science, Cancer Research and ESL. Professionally, Clinton is a qualified Bioinformatician/Biologist/Instructor.
Larry McMahan
Quantum Physics
Dr. McMahan holds an M.S. and Ph.D. from Rice, and has four decades of experience in industry (Hewlett-Packard) and in academia as a professor.
Soumya Suresh
Ecology & Environmental Science
Soumya is an experienced biologist and scientist interested in applying the tools of genetics and molecular biology to study ecological and botanical systems. She is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara and the University of Oregon, where she obtained her master's degree in Environmental Studies. She has worked in research and field labs at the undergraduate and graduate level in academia, as well as in industry. Ms. Suresh's Environmental Science groups deal with conservation issues with plants and wildlife. Our groups employ various scientific collection and analysis methods such as molecular biology, field data collection, lab specimen growth and care, and permit application.

Gayathri Renganathan
Medicinal Biochemistry
Gayathri obtained her M.Pharm at Anna University and has served as a lecturer in Inorganic & Analytical Chemistry, and in her area of expertise, medicinal biochemistry.
Connor Adams
Ocean Science
Connor is a graduate of U.C. Santa Cruz with an M.S. in ocean science and a B.S. in environmental science. His research experience includes fisheries management of Belize’s spiny lobster (Panulirus argus), and aggression/fecundity in mangrove rivulus fish (Kryptolebias marmoratus).
Raymond Chen
Analytical Chemistry
Raymond is a former scientist at Thermo Scientific and at Twist Biosciences. The Chen lab at ASDRP uses high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to determine stability of pharmaceutical entities.
Tracy Zhang
Cancer Biology & Oncology
Dr. Zhang holds a PhD in biomedical sciences and has coauthored over twenty publications in precision oncology and molecular cancer biology.
Michael Amadi
Biotechnology & Synthetic Biology
Former UCSF scientist and founder of Jikoro sciences, Michael is a scientist who is interestede in the interface of biotechnology and synthetic biology. The Amadi lab at ASDRP works on projects related to genomics, metabolomics, and biotechnology / bioengineering.
Prabhjeet Kaur
Microbiology & Genetics
Prof. Prabhjeet Kaur graduated from CSU Bakersfield with an MS in Microbiology and a BS in Biology with an emphasis in Microbiology. She has been a full-time Microbiology Instructor at COS Visalia. I have been teaching college level biology courses for the last 5 years, and Prof. Kaur is currently an adjunct Anatomy Professor at EVC San Jose. Her thesis research included work on Coccidioides immitis, the causative agent of valley fever in the Northwestern Mojave Desert, and the Kaur lab here at ASDRP is interested in a variety of ecological-microbiological scientific questions.

Edward Njoo
Organic & Medicinal Chemistry
Experienced organic chemist, educator, scientist, and Ph.D. candidate at Stanford University. Co-author on multiple peer-reviewed papers in biochemistry, chemical biology, and organic synthesis.
Phil Mui
Computer Science
Phil Mui, Ph.D., is Senior Vice President of Technology in Salesforce, and of the Office of the CTO. He received his S.B., M.Eng., and Ph.D. from MIT, and an M.Phil as aa Marshall Scholar at Oxford.
Omar Amer
Civil Engineering
Dr. Amer holds a PhD in civil engineering from Clemson University and is interested in developing next-generation green materials for carbon-sequestration.
Harman Brah
Computational & Structural Biophysics
Experienced biochemist at UCSD Medicine; former scientist at UCSF who specializes in computational biochemistry & drug discovery. Oversees admissions process.
Martin Kushnerov
Computational & Structural Biophysics
Martin received his MSc in Medical Genetics and Genomics at University of Glasgow and BS in Human Biology at UC San Diego. His main area of focus is in genetic and epigenetic regulation in biological systems, with previous experience studying viral genetics and genomics. His research group at ASDRP works on the interface of data-based genomics and genetics.
Neelima Sangeneni
Physical & Electrochemistry
Dr. Sangeneni holds a PhD in nanomaterial chemistry, and has been involved in several successful startups in the Bay Area. The Sangeneni Lab at ASDRP works on the interface of physical chemistry & nanomaterials engineering.

Pragati Dharmale
Electrical Engineering
Prof. Pragati Dharmale has 12 years of academia / industry research experience and received her M. Eng in Digital electronics and M.S. in computer science from Southern New Hampshire University, NH. Her research interest includes application of EEG analysis with machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI), as well as STEM based applications designed for Raspberry PI with Python programming.
Akira Yamamoto
Biomaterials Engineering
Akira received his M.Sc. from Shinsyu University in Materials Engineering and has served as the Director of Materials Science & Engineering at BioPharmX prior to coming to ASDRP. The Yamamoto group at ASDRP performs research in biomaterials engineering.
Suresh Subramaniam
Data Science
Seasoned executive and data scientist with experience in managing large operations and applying data science to solve business problems.
Joseph Laurienzo
Applied Mathematics
Joseph holds an M.S. in applied physics from Case Western University, and is an ambitious scientist interested in using mathematical models to understand physical and biological phenomena.
Bharat Poudyal
Biotechnology & Agronomy
Dr. Poudyal, a native of Nepal, received his PhD in Agronomy from the University of Hebei and MS degree from the University of Edinburgh. He is interested in the convergence of plant cell culture, community-based agriculture, and science-informed plant biology that enables new developments in human health.
Staff & Facility Managers
Former Faculty Advisors

Kavya Tallapaka
Cancer Biology

Nardeen Mikhail
Microbiology

Karishma Johnson
Data Science and Ecology

Asmita Dani
Electrical Engineering, RF Physics

Nicholas Papano
Computer Science and Engineering

Avery Kruger
Ecology and Evolution

Scott Clark
Organic Chemistry

Carly Truong
Molecular Neuroscience

Ankur Gupta
Molecular and Cell Biology

Calvin Leung
Quantum Mechanics and Physics

Sam Fendell
Machine Learning, Software