Announcing the 2024 Dojo House Members

Empowering Tomorrow’s Biotech Leaders

Nucleate Dojo is thrilled to announce the return of Dojo House, a dynamic summer co-living space designed for ambitious undergraduate students eager to make their mark in the biotech sector. Our mission is to provide educational and logistical support to undergraduates looking to enter the biotech industry. This year, Dojo House will host students in both Boston and San Francisco, offering fully supplemented housing and an immersive experience within the biotech field.

Thanks to the generous support of Emergent Ventures, Amaranth Foundation, TIME Initiative, and 1517, Dojo House is offering 14 undergraduate participants the chance to live rent-free while gaining invaluable exposure to the biotech industry. The program features intimate dinners with leading founders, VCs, and scientists, excursions to startup HQs and academic labs, and networking events with the broader biotech community. Participants will form a tight-knit community, living alongside a group of incredibly talented and curious peers who share their passion for biotechnology. The summer will culminate in a symposium where house members will present their progress, providing an incredible opportunity to network with industry leaders and celebrate their achievements. Take a peek at last year’s Dojo House Twitter to see what to expect!

Meet the San Francisco House Members

Inga Zhuravleva (House Lead)

Inga is an Electrical Engineering and Computer Science major at UC Berkeley, currently interning at Lorentz Bio. She is deeply interested in understanding how our senses work and exploring ways to augment them for better world perception. In the past, she has worked on speech synthesis brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) and built her own neural interfaces. Inga's passion for enhancing human sensory experience drives her innovative projects and research.

Ryan Kashanchi (House Lead)

Ryan is a Chemical Engineering (B.S./M.S.) major at Stanford University, currently interning at Genentech Inc. as a Pharmaceutical Engineering Intern. His interests in biotechnology cover the entire drug development lifespan, including protein engineering for cancer therapeutics, using hydrogels and biomaterials for drug delivery, and designing bioreactors for therapeutic production. He is particularly passionate about serving patients with rare diseases and has received a grant from Stanford's SPARK program to support a drug discovery effort. Outside of biotechnology, Ryan enjoys reading short stories, running, and playing the piano.

Justus Williams

Justus is a Neuroscience major with a minor in Business Management at Washington College, currently interning at UCSF conducting chromatin gene research. He has a dual passion for science and business, with a keen interest in neurotech that harnesses modern technology for chemical and cognitive therapies. An Arizona native, Justus loves to travel, explore different cultures, and seek adventures. His hobbies include exercise, poetry, meditation, boxing, and reading thought-provoking books.

Xandro Xu

Xandro is a Neuroscience major with a minor in Data Science at the University of Pennsylvania, currently interning at UCSF and the SF Department of Public Health conducting global health research. He is passionate about the intersection of health, technology, and policy, with a focus on promoting health equity among marginalized groups. A unique fact about Xandro is his love for orange juice with pulp. In his spare time, he enjoys exploring, looking at maps, eating, and hiking.

Lucas Sosnick

Lucas is a Bioengineering major with minors in Chemistry and Physics at Stanford University, currently interning at Yosemite, Metascript, and conducting research at Stanford. He is deeply passionate about neuroscience, CRISPR, epigenetics, and RNA therapeutics. This summer, Lucas will also be creating his CRISPR-focused biotech startup, Metascript. In his free time, Lucas loves playing and listening to jazz on the saxophone, discussing the philosophy of science and mind, and rock climbing with friends.

Alishba Imran

Alishba is an Electrical Engineering and Computer Science major at UC Berkeley, currently interning at the Berkeley AI Research Lab and Chan Zuckerberg Science Initiative conducting cryo-EM research. She is a machine learning developer passionate about using computational methods to accelerate biology and materials science research. She has worked on protein language model research, using LLMs for molecular predictions, and co-founded a venture-backed startup, Voltx, which utilized machine learning for battery testing and materials discovery. Her hobbies include brewing kombucha from scratch and exploring new adventures.

Kayla Leung

Kayla is a Molecular and Cell Biology major with a focus on Immunology at UC Berkeley, currently interning at Calico researching longevity. Her biotech interests include synthetic biology, neuroscience, immunology, and longevity. A fun fact about Kayla is that she brews kombucha from scratch and has a three-year-old SCOBY. Her hobbies include bouldering, hiking, traveling, and reading.

Meet the Boston House Members

Mukundh Murthy (House Lead)

Mukundh is a Computer Science and Mathematics major at the University of Michigan, currently researching at the Broad Institute (Dr. Evan Macosko Lab). He is interested in understanding complex gene regulation mechanisms and how they contribute to cell type and organ complexity, as well as disease. This summer, he will be analyzing immune gene expression data from a longitudinal cohort study at the Broad Institute. In his free time, Mukundh enjoys cooking, backpacking, and singing.

Claire Wang (House Lead)

Claire is an Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) and Neuroscience major with a minor in Public Policy at MIT, currently researching at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research (Boyden and Jasanoff Labs). She is fascinated by the brain and aims to deepen her understanding of consciousness, learning, and states of mind. She is passionate about deep tech and neurotech and enjoys talking about music, books, data visualization, tech ethics, and caffeine. Claire also spends a bit too much money on concerts and has hundreds of playlists.

Mindy (Somin) Lee

Mindy is a Computer Engineering major with double minors in Bioengineering and Robotics at the University of Toronto, currently working at the MIT Laboratory of Computational Physiology and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Her research interests include machine learning applications in healthcare, soft robotics, and brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). In her free time, she enjoys vlogging, painting, figure skating, singing, and discovering delicious food spots.

Michelle Wu

Michelle is an Engineering Science major with a focus on Biomedical Systems Engineering at the University of Toronto, currently researching at the Broad Institute (Dr. Fei Chen's Lab). Her passion for synthetic biology and biotechnology was sparked by her role in iGEM, and she has since explored various related fields. Her past research includes working with RNA helicases, microorganisms for bioremediation, and cell-free protein expression systems. Most recently, she interned at E11 Bio, focusing on creating unique DNA sequences to label neurons. Michelle enjoys hiking, exploring new landscapes, and taking care of plants, although she struggles to keep them alive during Canadian winters.

Samarth Jajoo

Samarth is a Computer Science major at UC Berkeley, currently researching in Sergey Ovchinnikov's Lab at MIT. His interests include understanding the physics of human consciousness, neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases through genomics. Outside the lab, he loves to play tennis, hike, and recently walked part of the Camino. A fun fact about Samarth is his interest in linguistics and learning how languages evolved.

Viraj Chhajed

Viraj is a Computer Engineering major with a minor in Computational Biology and Quantitative Genomics at UCLA, currently working at the Wyss Institute (Dr. Michael Levin's Lab). He is interested in information encoding and morphology in living cortical neurons, as well as complex systems approaches to biology. He is also training for handstand pushups, one-arm pushups, and aims to achieve 25 lbs weighted pullups by the end of summer.

Julia Harms

Julia is a Molecular Cell Biology major with minors in Chemistry and Physics at UC Berkeley, currently working at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital. She is interested in understanding neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases through genomics and exploring the physics of human consciousness. Outside the lab, she enjoys playing tennis, hiking, and recently walked part of the Camino. Julia is also interested in linguistics and learning how languages evolved.

Follow their journey

The 2024 Dojo House program is poised to make a significant impact by providing these exceptional students with the resources, community, and opportunities they need to thrive in the biotech industry. By fostering a collaborative environment and offering hands-on experience with leading researchers and industry professionals, Dojo House continues to empower the next generation of biotech leaders. We are excited to see the innovative ideas and breakthroughs that will emerge from this talented group of individuals. Follow our journey and stay updated on the progress of these future pioneers in biotechnology.

The Dojo House will be sharing updates with what the Houses are getting up to throughout the term, follow along on our Twitter.

For more information about Nucleate Dojo, please visit our website and Twitter.