Meet the Team
The Faces of Our Organization
Rachana Mudipalli
Founder
Rachana is a junior at Stanford University, where she is majoring in bioengineering and is a neuroscience researcher in the BioE department. She has served as a science mentor to elementary and middle school students through Stanford Science in Service, the mentorship program at the primary school, and as a tutor through the A Little Joy Foundation. Outside of science, she enjoys singing, biking, and exploring the California coastline.
Sid Dhawan
STEM Mentor, Co-Founder of DST India Initiative
Sid is a Senior in Bioengineering who is passionate about teaching and science outreach. His research involves developing genome editing tools for neuroscience and studying cochlear mechanotransduction at the molecular level. He also works as a peer counselor at the Bridge a crisis responder for THRIVE Lifeline, and a hospice volunteer at Sutter Health. He is excited to bring his experiences working as a teaching assistant at Stanford to support DST’s mission.
Ronghao Zhou
STEM Mentor
Ronghao is a first year graduate student student in genetics at Stanford. Born in China, she came to the US for high school, and then went to Wellesley College where she majored in chemistry and math.
Vincent Xia
STEM Mentor
Vincent was born and raised in North Carolina. After spending his early adulthood bringing STEM education programs to children in his community and state, he came to Stanford, CA for college, where he currently studies Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering. He’s excited to continue serving families and sharing his love of science with children through Discovering Science Together.
Nathan Sala
STEM Mentor
Nathan is a freshman at Stanford University who is interested in Biology and Bioengineering and is excited to share his excitement for science with others! Nathan has experience working with students of all ages - he most recently taught a computer science class for elementary school students last fall.
Kailash Raman
STEM Mentor
Kailash is a senior at Stanford, and is originally from Phoenix, AZ. He is majoring in chemical engineering, and has experience researching new materials for batteries and other technologies. He is especially interested in developing clean energy solutions to fight climate change!
Carly Smith
STEM Mentor
Carly is a current sophomore at Stanford University, studying human biology. She hopes to one day become a pediatrician and to run her own farm! In her free time she enjoys gardening, painting, hiking the Appalachian mountains where she grew up, and journaling about all of her fun adventures.
Thomas Koehnke
STEM Mentor
Thomas is a physician-scientist. He studied medicine in Germany where he trained to treat patients with cancer. At Stanford, he studies how cells grow and replicate and how this contributes to cancer formation.
Danielle Amir-Lobel
STEM Mentor
Danielle is currently a freshman studying Symbolic Systems with a concentration in Neuroscience at Stanford. In the past, she has conducted neuroscience research at brain cancer and aging labs. She loves teaching and is super excited to explore cool science experiments with students. In her free time, she enjoys outdoor adventures, writing, traveling, singing, and going to the beach.
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Amelia Traylor
STEM Mentor
Amelia Traylor is a Master's Student in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford. She will begin pursuing her PhD for a future career in academia in Fall 2021. In her free time, Amelia loves to sing with her local choir, hike, and cook for her family and friends.
Samrat Thapa
STEM Mentor
Samrat (Sam) is currently a freshman studying biology/CS at Stanford. He is excited to share his love of science, experiments, and learning in general with his students.
Jason Phong
STEM Mentor
Jason is a Stanford sophomore interested in all things science, from medicine and biology to chemistry and physics. He still love to learn and discover new things in science, and I am excited to get to do so with you all.
Savana Huskins
STEM Mentor
Savana is a junior at Stanford University majoring in Bioengineering. She is interested in genetic engineering and synthetic biology with applications for sustainability. In addition, she has a passion for music, whether it be attending and planning concerts, playing the guitar in her free time, or teaching young kids to play piano. She is excited to explore some fun science experiments with new students!
Erin Cole
STEM Mentor
Erin is a junior at Stanford, where she is studying Earth Systems. She has volunteered as a science mentor to elementary school students through Stanford Science in Service, and is excited to continue sharing her love for science with others. In her free time, she enjoys spending time outdoors (especially near the ocean), playing guitar, and making crafts.
Miriam Sun
STEM Mentor
Miriam is a 1st year PhD student in Developmental Biology at Stanford. She majored in Biology at Caltech and has served as a science mentor to elementary and middle school students through her local school districts and/or tutoring programs. She loves working with kids and is excited to help more young students discover science together!
Alex Kern
STEM Mentor
Alex grew up in Connecticut, went to college near Chicago where he studied math and biology, and is now out in California as a 4th Year PhD Student in Genetics at Stanford. He studies how lots of small changes in DNA can add up to make big differences and shape the evolution of microbes and humans. In his free time, he likes to play violin, play basketball, read sci-fi, and sometimes play video games.
Izumi de los Rios Kobara
STEM Mentor
Izumi is a first year PhD student in the Immunology Program at Stanford. She studied Biological Engineering in undergrad and is interested in vaccines and infectious disease. She is excited to teach and learn science with all of you!