The Executive Board
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: Junior
Years in URJ: Three
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: Junior
Years in URJ: Three
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.
Senior Directors
Ashley Hoffman
Executive Editor
Major(s): Biochemistry
Classification: Sophomore
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: Sophomore
Years in URJ: One
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: Junior
Years in URJ: One
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
Assistant 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): Public Health
Classification: Sophomore
Years in URJ: Two
Highlights: Maha is a second-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): Biology
Classification: Sophomore
Years in URJ: One
Highlights: Mei is a sophmore biology 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.
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.