The 2022-23 Executive Board
Ashley Hoffman
Editor-in-Chief
Major(s): Biology
Classification: Senior
Years in URJ: Four
Highlights: Ashley is a senior biology major with a focus on genetics and genomics. She’s very passionate about biomedical science and hopes to pursue a career in research. She loves advocating for and learning about the variety of research URJ publishes across all UT’s colleges. In her free time, Ashley loves to draw, paddleboard, and try new coffee places.
Katherine Faulkner
Executive Director 
Major(s): Environmental Science
Classification: Senior
Years in URJ: Two
Highlights: Katherine is a Senior 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.
Sriya Gullapalli
Executive Editor
Major(s): Neuroscience
Classification: Junior
Years in URJ: Two
Highlights: Sriya is a third-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.
Nithya Narayana
Associate 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 electric scooters around Austin.
Associate Directors and Editors
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: Three
Highlights: Mei is a senior 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
Assistant Editors and Directors
Sraavya Chintalapati
Assistant Editor
Major(s): Anthropology
Classification: Junior
Years in URJ: Two
Highlights: Sraavya is a third-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.
Rachel Muralitharan
Assistant Editor
Major(s): Biology
Classification: Sophomore
Years in URJ: Two
Highlights: Rachel Muralitharan is a sophomore 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 🙂
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.