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Who we are:

We are scientists and engineers. We are real people with real experience in real research. And we are brought together every year with a common passion for STEM and a common goal of bringing out the best for the high school students we mentor. 

Leadership

Leadership & Administration

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David Linnevers

Director of Operations

Over three decades of experience in working in higher education administration and admissions at institutions such as UCLA Medical School. Mr. Linnevers holds a BS in Aviation Science and a M.B.A. in Marketing and Management

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Larry McMahan, PhD

Chair of Computer Science & Engineering

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. Chair, Computer Science and Engineering, Quantum Physics, Quantum Computing, Machine Learning & Autonomous Vehicle Research

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John Wang, PhD

Chair of Biological & Life Sciences

Dr. John Wang received his PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology from Indiana University, and following that was a postdoctoral reserach fellow at Stanford Medical School in Oncology. Following this, Dr. Wang has been a leader in modern cancer immunotherapy, and has served as the chief scientific officer of a leading biotech company. Dr. Wang and his colleagues have previously placed multiple candidates, including most recently an interleukin-15 construct, into human clinical trials with the FDA. 

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Diego Martinez

Asst. Director of IT

Diego Martinez leads the design, development, and operation of ASDRP’s core technical systems, building scalable, custom solutions that keep the organization fast, reliable, and connected. He owns projects end-to-end—from architecture to deployment—automating workflows, integrating platforms, and maintaining mission-critical systems across admissions, data system, CRM, LMS, events, and public web infrastructure. His work enables real-time visibility, reduces operational overhead, and ensures every request is handled with speed, clarity, and accountability, directly supporting ASDRP’s growth and student-first mission.

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Edward Njoo, PhD

Director of Research & Development, Chair of Chemistry & Biochemistry

Dr. Njoo received his PhD in organic chemistry from Stanford University, MA from Biola University, and BSc from Loyola Marymount. Edward has published mulitple peer-reviewed papers in natural product synthesis, fluorine NMR, and chemical biology. 

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Phil Mui, PhD

Computer Science Advisor & Board Member

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.

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Robert Downing

Emeritus Chair, Department of Computer Science & Engineering
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. 

OCF Board of Directors

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Joni Jen

Board President

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.

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Sara Mithra

Board Member

Sara completed her undergraduate studies at UC Santa Cruz and a Master's degree at UC Berkeley in literature and creative writing.

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Tammy Long

Board Member

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

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Edward Njoo, PhD

Board Member

Dr. Njoo received his PhD in organic chemistry from Stanford University, MA from Biola University, and BSc from Loyola Marymount. Edward has published mulitple peer-reviewed papers in natural product synthesis, fluorine NMR, and chemical biology. 

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Research Investigators

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Marx Akl, PhD

AI-Driven Computational Science (Physics, Chem etc), Agentic AI, LLMs, RAG, Computer Vision, Materials Modeling, and Scientific Machine Learning

Dr. Marx Akl is a Computational Physicist, Principal Scientist, AI Research Advisor, and actively practicing AI scientist and engineer leading an AI-first research lab at the intersection of artificial intelligence, computational physics, materials science, engineering, and intelligent scientific systems. Every project within his lab—whether focused on physics, engineering, healthcare, molecular science, materials discovery, or predictive maintenance—is designed with a strong AI component at its core.

Dr. Akl holds a Ph.D. in Physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where his dissertation focused on The Mechanical Response of Materials at the Nanoscale via Simulations. He also holds Masters' degrees in Physics and Mechanical Engineering from RPI and the University of Southern California. With over a decade of experience as a scientist, machine learning engineer, and AI systems builder, Dr. Akl brings together deep scientific expertise and modern AI engineering to solve complex real-world problems.

His current work spans large language models (LLMs), retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), agentic AI frameworks, computer vision, transformer architectures, neural networks and operators, multimodal learning, predictive maintenance, molecular machine learning, and AI-driven scientific discovery. He actively develops and advises projects involving many areas such as real-time object recognition for assistive wearable technology, transformer models for molecular representation learning, machine learning models for turbofan engine failure prediction and Remaining Useful Life estimation, autoencoder-based integration of single-cell imaging and sequencing data, and operator-learning frameworks for chaotic dynamical systems.

The lab integrates modern AI methods with traditional scientific computing techniques such as density functional theory (DFT), molecular dynamics (MD), simulation, spectral analysis, and physics-informed modeling. Rather than treating AI as a post-processing tool, Dr. Akl embeds AI directly into the research workflow—using it to accelerate discovery, reduce computational bottlenecks, uncover hidden patterns, guide hypothesis generation, and build intelligent systems capable of reasoning across structured data, unstructured documents, images, sensor streams, and scientific simulations.

Dr. Akl’s research includes AI-powered wearable systems such as Guide Glass for visually impaired navigation, transformer-based models such as DeepBERTa for molecular property prediction, hybrid ML frameworks for rapid band gap prediction in materials science, and advanced deep learning approaches for cancer data analysis and chaotic system forecasting. In parallel, his applied AI engineering work includes modern enterprise AI architectures such as LLM-powered RAG systems and agentic AI frameworks, including Azure-based agentic systems that connect models with tools, data sources, workflows, and real-world applications.

What distinguishes Dr. Akl’s work is his ability to bridge physics-driven scientific reasoning with cutting-edge AI engineering. His lab operates at the convergence of generative AI, agentic AI, computer vision, scientific machine learning, materials informatics, intelligent simulation, and applied data science. The goal is not simply to use AI as a tool, but to build AI systems that can assist, reason, predict, discover, and act within complex scientific and engineering environments.

Dr. Akl’s research philosophy is simple: AI is not an add-on — it is the core engine driving modern scientific discovery.

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Zane Chen, PhD

Chemistry

Dr. Chen completed his PhD in Biochemistry at Oregon Health Sciences University with a thesis: Regulation of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I gene expression in vivo. He received his MD from Qingdao Medical College. He has done his Post-Doc at Oregon Health Sciences University.

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Chris DeGrendele, PhD

Computational Physics, Supercomputing, Machine Learning

Chris DeGrendele is a computational scientist at NASA Ames Research Center in the Advanced Supercomputing Division - Computational Aerosciences Branch. He received his PhD in Applied Mathematics from University of California Santa Cruz. His research focuses on computational physics and physics based machine learning models.

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Sahar Jahanikia

Computational Cognitive Neuroscience, AI & Data science

Experienced computational cognitive neuroscientist proficient in Computational Neuroscience, Neuroimaging, Behavioral Sciences, Neuroinformatics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Data Science, Machine Learning (ML), Design Thinking, and Bioinformatics. Brining extensive experience in designing, gathering, and analyzing cutting-edge neuroimaging data studies using various modalities such as fMRI, NIRS, EEG, and simultaneous EEG-fMRI. Additionally, she is expertised in incorporating Large Language Models (LLMs) into cognitive science research.

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Madhulika Jupelli, PhD

Immunology & Molecular Biology

Dr. Madhulika Jupelli received her PhD in cellular immunology from the University of Texas, San Antonio, and did her post-doctoral training at Cedars Sinai Medical Center and at the Los Angeles Children’s Hospital in infectious diseases. Following this, Dr. Jupelli’s industry career led her to several medium- and large- biopharmaceutical companies, including her work at Bristol Myers Squibb, and more recently at Pfizer. Dr. Jupelli has to her name three FDA clinical trials, including a Phase III clinical trial for GBT021601 (Osivelotor) for the treatment of Sickle cell disease. 

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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.

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Viktoriia Liu, PhD

Chemistry

Experienced computational chemist with knowledge in ML/computer vision, bioinformatics, robotics, and structural biology. She received her Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from UC Riverside.

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Darach Miller, PhD

Mircobiology & Genetics

Dr. Darach Miller received his PhD in Molecular and System Biology from New York University and his undergraduate degree in Genetics from University of California, Davis. Following this, Dr. Miller was a postdoctoral research fellow at Stanford University (SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University). He specializes in molecular virus-host interactions that determine a cell's susceptibility to infection and permissiveness for replication

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Edward Njoo, PhD

Organic & Medicinal Chemistry

Dr. Njoo received his PhD in organic chemistry from Stanford University, MA from Biola University, and BSc from Loyola Marymount. Edward has published mulitple peer-reviewed papers in natural product synthesis, fluorine NMR, and chemical biology. 

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Bharat Poudyal, PhD

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. 

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Harrison Rahn, PhD

Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Chemical Biology

The Rahn group at ASDRP will dive into developing new synthetic tools for small molecule Drug Discovery through high-throughput screening and late stage functionalization. Collaboratively, the Rahn group will assist efforts in mRNA delivery and drug discovery across ASDRP with a complementary expertise in creating compounds for selective drug delivery. 

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Chandan Shee, PhD

Molecular Biology, Genetics

Dr. Chandan Shee is an accomplished biologist and leader with a solid history of achievement in the areas of molecular biology, NGS technology, and IVD product development. Dr. Shee received his PhD in Molecular & Cellular Biology from the Indian Institute of of Technology, Roorkee, and received his postdoctoral training at Baylor College of Medicine, where he went on to be an assistant professor. Following his academic career, Dr. Shee held senior positions at Theranos, Ultima Genomics, and Guardant Health, and has published over two dozen papers in diagnostics and microbiology.

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Nataliya Starostina, PhD

Physical Science, Material Science and Engineering

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Dr. Nataliya Starostina is a passionate and dedicated educator committed to the quality of research. She was born, raised, and educated in Soviet Union. Nataliya’s teaching experience at Santa Clara University (SCU) started in 2018 and spans both graduate and undergraduate materials science-related courses. Before joining SCU, her professional journey in advanced technologies commenced at UCLA, focusing on the coarsening kinetics of age-hardening alloys. Subsequently, she navigated the landscape of atomic force microscopy at an AFM manufacturing startup, contributed to process management measurement solutions at Emerson, and participated in wireless industrial automation at another high-tech startup. In her industry career, she held various roles from research associate to application scientist, product manager, and director of marketing. During this time, Nataliya had the honor of mentoring both undergraduate and graduate students, serving as an industry advisor and scholar. The students’ accomplishments include winning Best Senior Design Project awards, contributing to teaching labs, presenting at scientific conferences, and publishing in peer-reviewed papers. She authored a book chapter sharing her pedagogy in teaching laboratory courses. This chapter is accessible online as an open-access article (2023).

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Inbay Xie, PhD

Applied Physics, Mechanical and Thermal Engineering

Dr. Xie received his PhD, MEng, and BSc from Tianjin University, and has previously served as a co-Dean of Power Engineering at Tianjin University and has mentored over 90 postgraduate students in thermal physics, applied engineering, and materials science with over 80 publications in applied physics. Following his academic career, Dr. Xie worked as a visiting scholar at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and subsequently as a principal test engineer at Sanhua Automotive developing new materials for vehicle parts in Tesla. Dr. Xie will be deploying this expertise in training students in materials physics and thermal physics.

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Tracy Zhang, PhD

Cancer Biology & Oncology

Dr. Zhang holds a PhD in biomedical sciences and has coauthored over twenty publications in precision oncology and molecular cancer biology.

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Harman Brah, MD

Computational & Structural Biophysics

Our work combines molecular-scale simulations with large-scale clinical data analysis to uncover mechanisms of disease and accelerate therapeutic discovery.

 

We develop AI-driven tools for fragment-based drug design, including transformer models that encode molecular structure for improved prediction, and apply them to high-priority targets like KRAS-driven pancreatic adenocarcinoma. On the immunology side, we design TCR-BiTE bispecific engagers targeting KRAS G12V neoantigens and investigate how bacterial metabolites in the gut microbiome modulate T-cell responses in colorectal cancer. We also explore drug safety questions, including GLP-1 receptor agonist safety signals and clozapine-HLA interactions in agranulocytosis, alongside clinical ML applications like cluster B personality disorder patient and quality outcomes.

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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. 

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Robert Downing

Emeritus Chair, Department of Computer Science & Engineering
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. 

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Shubhi Jain, MD/MPH

Public Health, Epidemiology

Dr. Shubhi Jain received her MD from the University of Baroda in India, and studied Applied Epidemiology in the MPH program at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and combines a unique blend of clinical expertise & public health analytics. 5+ years of clinical experience in diverse healthcare settings (USA & India). Dr. Jain will be leading a group in public health research, infectious disease, health communication, or program implementation to leverage a deep understanding of research protocols, clinical data integrity, and evidence-based decision-making in the biotech/pharma industry.

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Pragati Dharmale

Electrical Engineering

Pragati Dharmale has 14 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. 

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Dennis Liu

Director of IT; Mathematics & Computer Science

Mr. Dennis Liu is a product of Georgia Tech (MS Computer Science / Human Computer Interaction) and UC San Diego (BS Mathematics - Computer Science; BS Cognitive Science / Human Computer Interaction). Prior to joining us this spring in his new role, Dennis has previously served on ASDRP's admissions team, and will be assuming the role of Director of IT in addition to leading research groups at ASDRP in the fields of computer and cognitive science. Dennis comes to ASDRP with 8 years of IT experience - from UC San Diego Information & Technology Services as a Service Desk Technician, IBM Quantum as both a client facing technical support developer and software engineer, and more recently at VIZIO as a software engineer - prior to rejoining ASDRP.

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Larry McMahan, PhD

Chair, Computer Science and Engineering, Quantum Physics, Quantum Computing, Machine Learning & Autonomous Vehicle Research

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. 

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Phil Mui, PhD

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 a Marshall Scholar at Oxford.

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Joey Pazzi, PhD

Chemistry

Dr. Pazzi's current research interests include economical point of care diagnostics, the development of synthetic cells, and facilitating membrane fusion reactions with cells

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Huifang Qin, PhD

Data Science & Finance

Dr. Huifang Qin received her PhD in EECS from UC Berkeley. Huifang brings over 20 years of experience solving technology and business problems with data science. She led Data Science teams in autonomous driving, social media, digital advertising and finance technology companies to conduct research and build impactful products. Her group at ASDRP conducts finance research through practicing data science skills including data mining, statistical analysis, predictive modeling and optimizations. 

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Vasudha Salgotra

Biology & Chemistry

Vasudha Salgotra is a research professional with a background in analytical chemistry and pharmacy. She has years of experience in supporting preclinical activities in drug development and delivery for small and large biologics. Her professional journey includes designing and validating plate-based immunoassays (ELISAs) and other bioanalytical techniques.

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Suresh Subramaniam

Data Science 

Seasoned executive and data scientist with experience in managing large operations and applying data science to solve business problems.

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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.

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John Wang, PhD

Principal Scientist; Molecular & Cell Biology

Dr. John Wang received his PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology from Indiana University, and following that was a postdoctoral reserach fellow at Stanford Medical School in Oncology. Following this, Dr. Wang has been a leader in modern cancer immunotherapy, and has served as the chief scientific officer of a leading biotech company. Dr. Wang and his colleagues have previously placed multiple candidates, including most recently an interleukin-15 construct, into human clinical trials with the FDA. 

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Former Faculty Advisors

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Michael Amadi

Biotechnology & Synthetic Biology

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Prabhjeet Kaur

Microbiology & Genetics

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Calvin Leung

Quantum Mech & Physics

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Carly Truong

Molecular Neuroscience 

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Avery Kruger

Ecology and Evolution

Neelima Sangeneni

Neelima Sangeneni

Physical & Electrochemistry

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Kavya Tallapaka

Cancer Biology

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Asmita Dani

Electrical Engi, RF Physics

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Nardeen Mikhail

Microbiology

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Sam Fendell

Machine Learn, Software

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Ankur Gupta

Molecular / Cell Biology

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Tuyen Tran

Lab Staff

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Raymond Chen

Analytical Chemistry

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Scott Clark

Organic Chemistry

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Nicholas Papano

CS &  Engineering

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Martin Kushnerov

Computational & Structural Biophysics

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Valens Nteziyaremye

Engineering

Connor Adams

Connor Adams

Ocean Science

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Prabin Laminchane, PhD

Mathematics, Statistics and Data Science

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Omar Amer

Civil Engineering

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Karishma Johnson

Data Science and Ecology

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Gayathri Renganathan

Medicinal Biochemistry

Offices & HQ

46309 Warm Springs Blvd. Fremont, CA 94539

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Life Science Research & Development Laboratory

46307 Warm Springs Blvd. Fremont, CA 94539

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Biosciences Research & Development Laboratory

46269 Warm Springs Blvd. Fremont, CA 94539

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Engineering Research Laboratory

46249 Warm Springs Blvd. Fremont, CA 94539

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General Inquiries: asdrp.admin@asdrp.org

Admissions: admissions@asdrp.org

Telephone: +1 (510) 371-4831

© Aspiring Scholars Directed Research Program 2026, All rights reserved.

ASDRP is a production of Olive Children Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in Fremont, California.

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