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Vanderbilt Vanguard

Vanderbilt's Undergraduate STEM Newspaper

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Isabella Bautista
Isabella Bautista
Editor-in-Chief
Isabella Bautista

Isabella Bautista

Editor-in-Chief

Isabella is a junior from Easton, PA, majoring in Mathematics and Biological Sciences and minoring in Psychology on the pre-med track, hoping to one day work in emergency medicine. She is currently researching the molecular evolution of a visual protein, rhodopsin, in penguins in the Castiglione Lab. In her free time, she enjoys strolling around campus with her camera and practicing the piano.

Will Atkinson
Will Atkinson
Managing Editor
Will Atkinson

Will Atkinson

Managing Editor

Will is a senior from Mercer Island, WA, majoring in Neuroscience and English on a pre-med track. He is performing research focused on the binding activity of PAR4 receptors on platelet cells in the Hamm Lab. In his free time, he enjoys playing basketball, working as an emergency medical technician, and reading books.

Vania Sih
Vania Sih
Associate Editor
Vania Sih

Vania Sih

Associate Editor

Vania is a senior from Saratoga Springs, NY, majoring in Neuroscience and Medicine, Health, and Society, with a minor in Communications of Science and Technology on the pre-med track. She is currently researching calcium activity at the single synapse in the Kavalali Lab. In her free time, she likes to go to cafes, climb, and do other outdoor activities.

Morgan Lindstead
Morgan Lindstead
Outreach Director
Morgan Lindstead

Morgan Lindstead

Outreach Director

Morgan is a Senior from Albany, NY, and Celebration, FL, majoring in Medicine, Health, and Society and Neuroscience on the pre-med track. She is currently researching speech differences in neurodegenerative diseases with the Mefferd VUSKAL Lab and acoustic alert design with the Schlesinger Lab. In her free time, she enjoys painting, reading, playing board games, and finding new dogs to pet.

Salma Elhandaoui
Salma Elhandaoui
Digital Director
Salma Elhandaoui

Salma Elhandaoui

Digital Director

Salma is a sophomore from Brooklyn, NY, majoring in Mathematics, Earth and Environmental Sciences, and Economics. She is currently researching pulmonary fibrosis progression in the Division of Allergy, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at VUMC. During her free time, she enjoys composing music, visiting museums and painting natural landscapes.

Marlo Armstrong
Marlo Armstrong
Science & Society Editor
Marlo Armstrong

Marlo Armstrong

Science & Society Editor

Marlo is a junior from Chicago, IL, double majoring in Civil Engineering and Communication of Science and Technology. She is currently working on an artificial intelligence project with a construction company and is very interested in bridging the gap between engineering and effective communication. In her free time, she enjoys running, going to music festivals, and trying new foods.

Stuti Jain
Stuti Jain
Natural Science Editor
Stuti Jain

Stuti Jain

Natural Science Editor

Stuti is a senior from Seattle, WA, majoring in Neuroscience and Communication of Science and Technology on the pre-med track. She is currently working on characterizing novel vasculature in Alzheimer's-diseased brains in the Schrag Lab. In her free time, she enjoys trying new restaurants all over Nashville with her friends.

Nancy Deng
Nancy Deng
Computational Science Editor
Nancy Deng

Nancy Deng

Computational Science Editor

Nancy is a junior from San Francisco, CA, majoring in Computer Science and Mathematics and minoring in Data Science and Communication of Science and Technology. In her free time, she enjoys listening to live music and reading.

Ellie Nadelmann
Ellie Nadelmann
Medical Science Editor
Ellie Nadelmann

Ellie Nadelmann

Medical Science Editor

Ellie is a senior from Livingston, NJ, majoring in Neuroscience and Medicine, Health, and Society with a concentration in Global Health on the pre-med track. She is researching the effects of various drugs on alcohol and opioid addiction in the Siciliano Lab. In her free time, she enjoys running, playing pickleball and tennis, and hanging out with friends.

Heena Cho
Heena Cho
Heena Cho

Heena Cho

Heena is a junior from Seoul, South Korea, majoring in Engineering Science with a minor in Engineering Management. She is currently researching rapid antigen detection tests in the Bell Lab. Her hobbies include reading, snowboarding, and entertaining her cat.



Madalyne Brown
Madalyne Brown
Madalyne Brown

Madalyne Brown

Madalyne is a sophomore from Waukesha, WI. She is double majoring in Neuroscience and Culture, Advocacy, and Leadership. She is currently researching working memory processes in non-human primates in the Constantinidis Lab and is extremely interested in entrepreneurship in the neuropharmacology and brain computer interface industries. Her personal passions include video games, connecting with nature, and volunteering in her community.

Paige Roberson
Paige Roberson
Paige Roberson

Paige Roberson

Paige is a senior from Houston, TX majoring in Molecular and Cellular Biology with a minor in Spanish for the Professions. She is currently working in the Glazer lab studying the functionality of variations of the gene SCN5A and their linkages to heart arrhythmias. In her free time, she likes to hang out with friends, read, and work out.



Sanjana Srikanth
Sanjana Srikanth
Sanjana Srikanth

Sanjana Srikanth

Sanjana is a freshman from Saratoga, CA, majoring in Computer Science with a minor in Data Science. She is interested in the ways AI and machine learning can be applied to diverse fields like healthcare to make a social impact and is constantly challenging herself to learn new ways to apply coding and software development to her passions. At Vanderbilt, she is also a dancer on Lakshya, Vanderbilt's competitive Bollywood dance team. In her free time, she loves to sing and play the piano.

Elaine Yang
Elaine Yang
Elaine Yang

Elaine Yang

Elaine is a junior from the Bay Area, CA, majoring in Mathematics and Neuroscience. She is interested in computational neuroscience research, where she can apply what she learns in her math classes to analyze cognitive models and predict protein structure. In her free time, she enjoys playing volleyball, listening to house music, and trying new restaurants.

Sophia Hoar
Sophia Hoar
Sophia Hoar

Sophia Hoar

Sophia is a sophomore from Newburgh, IN, majoring in Neuroscience and Creative Writing on a pre-M.D.-Ph.D. track. Outside of Vanguard, she is a writing enthusiast, emergency medical technician, and undergraduate researcher in the Sheffield Lab and Lippmann Lab.

Landri Domingue
Landri Domingue
Landri Domingue

Landri Domingue

Landri is a freshman from Baton Rouge, LA, majoring in Computer Science. She is passionate about the intersections of technology and medicine, particularly how advanced artificial intelligence and robotic systems are utilized in surgery, along with disease prediction, treatment, and recovery. In her free time, she enjoys reading, debating, and coding algorithms.

Dalton Malmin
Dalton Malmin
Dalton Malmin

Dalton Malmin

Dalton is a freshman from Nashville, TN, majoring in Mathematics and Economics and minoring in Data Science. In his free time, he enjoys practicing martial arts and catching up with friends over food.



Tara Chalasani
Tara Chalasani
Tara Chalasani

Tara Chalasani

Tara is a sophomore from Cincinnati, OH, majoring in Neuroscience and Communication of Science and Technology. She is currently researching the c-Fos gene in mice in the Calipari Lab. In her free time, she enjoys reading, watching movies, and going to concerts.

Andrea Fletes
Andrea Fletes
Andrea Fletes

Andrea Fletes

Andrea is a freshman from Brownsville, TX, and is pursuing a major in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Materials Science. She is a representative of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and a member of the Society for Women Engineers. She loves baking pastries, traveling, reading, writing, and listening to music.

Aiden Salk
Aiden Salk
Aiden Salk

Aiden Salk

Aiden is a junior from Woodcliff Lake, NJ, majoring in Neuroscience and minoring in Spanish for the Professions and Data Science on the pre-med track. He is currently researching the effects of mutations associated with the neurotransmitter GABA that have been linked to epilepsy in the Kang Lab. In his free time, he enjoys playing tennis and ping pong and listening to music with friends.

Carolina “Caro” Pino
Carolina “Caro” Pino
Carolina “Caro” Pino

Carolina “Caro” Pino

Caro is a senior from Miami, FL, majoring in Communication of Science and Technology and minoring in Neuroscience and Spanish on the pre-law track. She is currently researching the incorporation of culturally competent AI to address the challenges faced by Spanish-speaking neurodegenerative patients in accessing equitable healthcare in the United States. In her free time, she enjoys planning her dream travels, completing crossword puzzles, and making her friends smile.

Leo Malchin
Leo Malchin
Leo Malchin

Leo Malchin

Leo is a senior from Palo Alto, CA, double majoring in Computer Science and Psychology. He is interested in data analysis and models of cognition, which he researches in the Womelsdorf Lab.

Isbaah Pirwani
Isbaah Pirwani
Isbaah Pirwani

Isbaah Pirwani

Isbaah Pirwani is a freshman from Dallas, TX, studying Physics and Economics on the pre-law track. She is mainly interested in theoretical physics, particularly in supersymmetry as an extension of the Standard Model. In her free time, Isbaah enjoys watching Formula 1 racing and listening to rap music.

Darren Wang
Darren Wang
Darren Wang

Darren Wang

Darren is a freshman from Vancouver, Canada, majoring in Biomedical Engineering. His research passion lies within the fields of computer vision and biomechanics. In his free time, he enjoys playing badminton, tennis, and poker with his friends.

Aaliyah Brown
Aaliyah Brown
Aaliyah Brown

Aaliyah Brown

Aaliyah is a freshman from Seattle, WA, majoring in Biochemistry and minoring in Business on the pre-med track. In her free time, she likes running and trying new coffee shops around the Nashville area.

Kalyssa Platt
Kalyssa Platt
Kalyssa Platt

Kalyssa Platt

Kalyssa is a sophomore from Dallas, TX,  majoring in Medicine, Health, and Society and minoring in Spanish for the Professions on the pre-dental track. She is currently a part of the Page-McCaw lab researching wound healing of Drosophila. In her free time, she enjoys going out to eat with friends and playing pickleball.

Angie Li
Angie Li
Angie Li

Angie Li

Angie Li is a freshman from San Francisco, CA, majoring in Neuroscience. She loved researching sensory systems through a novel collective behavior in C. elegans in UCSF’s L’Etoile lab. When not writing for Vanguard, she enjoys sipping on ube cappuccinos, searching for new grocery stores, and spending time in nature!

Kaylyn Sethakosee
Kaylyn Sethakosee
Kaylyn Sethakosee

Kaylyn Sethakosee

Kaylyn is a freshman from Bedford, MA, majoring in Biomedical Engineering. She is very interested in medical devices. In her free time, she enjoys exploring museums and painting with complementary colors.

Jaya Khullar
Jaya Khullar
Jaya Khullar

Jaya Khullar

Jaya is a freshman from Little Rock, AR, majoring in Medicine, Health, and Society and Biological Sciences on the pre-med track. She enjoys learning more about gastroenterology and reading medical literature. When she's not typing away for the Vanguard, she can be found drinking tea or DJing for WRVU.



Asher Herman
Asher Herman
Asher Herman

Asher Herman

Asher is a freshman from Livingston, NJ, majoring in Environmental Sociology. He is currently researching and developing sustainable and affordable water purification methods. In his free time, he enjoys reviewing casual dining experiences and listening to music.

Zoë Breininger
Zoë Breininger
Zoë Breininger

Zoë Breininger

Zoë is a junior from Allentown, PA, majoring in Medicine, Health, and Society on the pre-med track. She is currently working at VUMC at the Center for Clinical Quality and Implementation Research. In her free time, she enjoys dancing with Momentum Dance Company and trying new foods with friends.

Larissa Ramirez
Larissa Ramirez
Larissa Ramirez

Larissa Ramirez

Larissa is a sophomore majoring in Political Science and Medicine, Health, and Society. She is passionate about combining policy and science to make research accessible and improve public health, with specific interests in scientific writing and academia. Larissa has researched the effects of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors and metformin on type 2 diabetes. In the DelGiorno Lab, she is interested in understanding changes in sugar structures in cancer cells and their effects. Having grown up in Florida, she enjoys kayaking and biking.



Gabi Barrocas
Gabi Barrocas
Gabi Barrocas

Gabi Barrocas

Gabi is a sophomore from Boca Raton, FL, majoring in Neuroscience and minoring in Communications on the pre-med track. She is currently researching Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy, or SUDEP, in mice in the Nobis Lab. In her free time, she enjoys exploring the Nashville food scene and writing.

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