The Executive Board
Maya Niyogi
Assistant Editor
Sriranjani Darbha
Editor-in-Chief
Major(s): Chemistry
Classification: Senior
Years in URJ: Four
Highlights: Sri is a senior Chemistry major from College Station, TX. She is an undergraduate researcher in the Anslyn Group, where she studies binding mechanisms of boronic acids and diols. She is also a mentor for the FRI Vertebrate Interactive Mapping stream. Apart from academics, Sri is an Indian classical vocalist who travels almost every month to perform around the US! Her other interests include the violin, sitar, and tennis.
Oishika Das
Editor-in-Chief
Major(s): Biochemistry
Classification: Senior
Years in URJ: Four
Highlights: Oishika is a third-year biochemistry major in the Dean’s Scholars Program. She began her interest in research in high school with an oncology mentorship at UT Southwestern and hopes to attend medical school in the future. In her free time, she enjoys learning languages, impulsively buying stationary, and spending time with her friends.
Mahija Ginjupalli
Chief Advisor
Major(s): Neuroscience
Hometown: Sugar Land, Texas
Classification: Senior
Years in URJ: Four
Highlights: Mahija is a third-year Neuroscience major and a member of the Harris Lab where she studies the ultrastructure of synaptic plasticity in learning and memory. In her free time, you can find her reading stories about dragons, watching Studio Ghibli, and eating pancakes at Kerbey Lane Cafe.
Ashley Hoffman
Executive Editor
Major(s): Biology
Classification: Junior
Years in URJ: Four
Highlights: Ashley is a sophomore biochemistry major with the Dean’s Scholars program. She’s very passionate about biomedical science and hopes to learn much more about research through her time with the URJ and at UT! Specifically, she is interested in learning more about the variety of natural sciences research at UT. In her free time, Ashley loves to draw, bake macarons, and try new coffee places.
Nithya Narayana
Executive Director of Campaigns
Major(s): Public Health
Classification: Junior
Years in URJ: Two
Highlights: Nithya is a second-year Public Health major in the Health Science Scholars program. This semester, she has begun working as a research assistant for Project SEED in the Kim Lab. In her free time, she loves swimming, hiking, and riding the electric scooters around Austin.
Nicholas Davila
Executive Director of Communications
Major(s): Physics
Classification: Senior
Years in URJ: Two
Highlights: Nick is a third-year Physics major from San Antonio, Texas. He is a recent transfer to UT Austin so his past research/work is not affiliated with UT, but he is excited to integrate himself to the Longhorn community! On his free time Nick enjoys pretty much anything, but his favorite activities are: going out with friends, exercising, traveling, making art, and playing video games.
Associate Directors and Editors
Kavyaa Choudhary
Associate Editor
Major(s): Plan II and Microbiology
Hometown: Monterrey, Mexico
Classification: Junior
Highlights: Kavyaa is a third year Plan II and Microbiology major. She works at the Lambowitz Lab as an undergraduate researcher. In her free time, you can find her reading articles from 10 years ago on New Yorker Site (usually when she’s supposed to be studying), or taking Buzzfeed personality quizzes. She also loves running, cheesy Netflix rom-coms, and cute coffee shops.
Roxanna Attar-Olyaee
Associate Editor
Major(s): Biochemistry
Hometown: Houston, Texas
Classification: Junior
Highlights: Roxanna is a third-year biochemistry major from Houston, Texas. She wishes to pursue a career as a physician and is interested in reproductive endocrinology. She is currently doing research in a lab on campus regarding antibiotic resistance, colonization mechanisms of A. baumannii, and antibody selection using phage display and ELISA. In addition to research, Roxanna loves cooking (especially with friends) and watching documentaries. Hit her up for unique (not necessarily good) recipes!
Katherine Faulkner
Associate Director of Campaigns
Major(s): Environmental Science
Classification: Sophomore
Years in URJ: One
Highlights: Katherine is a sophomore environmental science major in the Dean’s Scholars program. She is currently researching evolutionary paleobiology in the Martindale lab and near-Earth orbit sustainability with Dr. Jah. In her free time, Katherine enjoys creating digital art, reading classics and horror novels, and exploring new places.
Maha Ikram
Associate Director of Communications
Major(s): Biology
Classification: Junior
Years in URJ: Three
Highlights: Maha is a third-year biology major in the Dean’s Scholars Honors Program. Her current research interests lie in autoimmunity and dermatology. In her free time she enjoys doodling, playing horror video games, listening to music, reading Webtoons, and writing stories that she wishes could happen to her.
Mei Robson
Associate Director of Communications
Major(s): Public Health
Classification: Junior
Years in URJ: Two
Highlights: Mei is a junior public health major in the Dean’s Scholars Program and is interested in going to medical school. She is also part of the Bug in Bugs FRI stream which studies the gut bacteria of insects. Some of her hobbies include drawing, listening to video essays on youtube, and playing tennis.
Gayathree Gopi
Assistant Director of Communications
Major(s): Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
Classification: Sophomore
Years in URJ: One
Highlights: Gayathree is a second-year Microbiology major from Plano, Texas that’s passionate about research, immunology, and food technology. She is currently an undergraduate research assistant at the Cambronne Lab, where she studies metabolism and disease and is working to develop an optimized biosensor for detecting NAD+ levels in cells. Gayathree joined URJ because of their work in making research more accessible to the wider student population. When she’s not in class or at the lab, you can usually find her working on a new drawing, playing the piano, cooking, or reading books.
Assistant Editors and Directors
Stephanie Guo
Assistant Editor
Major(s): Psychology
Hometown: Missouri City, Texas
Classification: Junior
Highlights: Stephanie is a third-year Psychology major from Missouri City, Texas. She hopes to attend graduate school and specialize in clinical psychology or school psychology in the future. Currently, she is an undergraduate research assistant for The Texas Twin Project where she is helping to investigate trait heritability through studying identical and fraternal twins. In her free time, she likes to watch psychological thrillers, play Dungeons and Dragons, read books about abnormal psychology, and make ridiculous art.
John Teague
Assistant Editor
Major(s):Computer Science and Mathematics
Classification: Freshmen
Years in URJ: One
Highlights: John is a first-year Computer Science and Mathematics major from Flower Mound, Texas. He hopes to pursue mathematical research and to attend graduate school after his time at UT. Last year, he participated in the MIT THINK Scholars Program, in which he studied the generalization of control for robotic mechanisms. In his free time, he loves to climb with the Texas Rock Climbing Club, go hiking in RMNP, listen to music, and watch 3Blue1Brown videos.
Sraavya Chintalapati
Assistant Editor
Major(s): Anthropology
Classification: Freshman
Years in URJ: One
Highlights: Sraavya is a first year Anthropology major from Plano, TX. She first learned about research by participating in her high school’s AP Capstone Program. Her academic interests include but are not limited to cultural studies and film studies. In her free time, she enjoys eating ice cream, traveling to new destinations, and binge-watching Netflix.
Sreya Gandra
Assistant Editor
Major(s): Biochemistry and Plan II
Classification: Sophomore
Years in URJ: One
Highlights: Sreya is a first year Biochemistry and Plan II major in the Dean’s Scholars program. She first got involved in research working in a Biochemistry lab at UT Dallas and hopes to continue working on research here at UT Austin. Outside of URJ, she is also involved in Delta Gamma and AED. In her free time she loves to learn about and watch basketball, as well as trying new restaurants around Austin.
Sriya Gullapalli
Assistant Editor
Major(s): Neuroscience
Classification: Freshman
Years in URJ: One
Highlights: Sriya is a first-year Neuroscience major from Katy, Texas. She has a strong passion for research and medicine and plans to attend medical school in the future. In her free time, she enjoys playing piano covers, dancing, and creating vlogs. She also loves traveling all over the city to take pictures or trying new (aesthetic!) coffee and tea shops.
Major(s): Math
Classification: Freshman
Years in URJ: One
Highlights: Maya is a first-year math major from West Lafayette, IN. She’s a Jefferson Scholar and a member of the Energy Analytics FRI stream. She’s also a member of the Austin Conservation project, a mentor in SciCo USA, and a violist in EChO.
Sophia Hashmi
Assistant Editor
Major(s): Biomedical Engineering
Classification: Sophomore
Years in URJ: One
Highlights: Sophia is a sophomore biochemistry and English major hailing from Houston, TX. She is currently interning with a team at Baylor College of Medicine’s psychiatry department doing research regarding electronic therapy delivery and she hopes to get more involved with psychological research at UT! Outside of research, Sophia is passionate about judo and loves creative writing, making art, spending time with her friends, and baking way more than she can eat.
Rachel Muralitharan
Assistant Editor
Major(s): Biology
Classification: Freshman
Years in URJ: One
Highlights: Rachel Muralitharan is a freshman Biology major from Missouri City, Texas who is interested in exploring bioinformatics and neurological research at UT and URJ. In her free time she enjoys reading mystery novels, and she hopes to attend medical school and become a pediatrician in the future.
Eleena Sherman
Assistant Editor
Major(s): Neuroscience
Classification: Sophomore
Years in URJ: One
Highlights: Eleena is a sophomore Neuroscience major and Polymathic Honors student from Houston, Texas. She currently is a member of the Vertebrate Interactome Mapping stream where she studies the role of proteins in RNA regulation. In her free time, you can find her creating playlists for every mood, reading fantasy novels, playing violin, and critically analyzing the latest show she watched 🙂
Megan Snopik
Assistant Editor
Major(s): English
Classification: Senior
Years in URJ: One
Highlights: Megan is a 3rd year senior studying English and Italian Studies in the Liberal arts and English Honors college. Currently, she is writing her thesis on illness and disability in Virginia Woolf’s fiction. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking fresh pasta, reading (anything and everything), and bouldering.
Miriam Yampuler
Assistant Editor
Major(s): Neuroscience and Public Health
Classification: Freshman
Years in URJ: One
Highlights: Miriam is a Freshman from Houston, Texas, and is part of the Health Science Scholars and FRI program. She hopes to become is oncologist or neurologist. In her free time, she enjoys listening to and discovering new music, reading historical fiction novels, and exploring new places.