Executive Team

Dilyara is a Chemistry PhD student at MIT, advised by Prof. Ron Raines. Her current research is on ribonucleases towards the development of cancer therapeutics. Dilyara has been involved with MBG since Fall 2021.

Dilyara Sharipova

Co-President

Rac is a senior undergraduate studying Biological Engineering. His research in Michael Birnbaum’s lab is focused on the development of a high-throughput library assembly platform for TCR sequences. Rac has been involved with MBG since Fall 2021, previously serving as VP of Finance and Director of the Undergraduate Initiative.

Rac Mukkamala

Co-President

Brandon is a PhD candidate in the Health Sciences and Technology program at MIT. His research in Krystyn Van Vliet’s lab explores novel manufacturing platforms and priming techniques to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of cell therapy. Brandon has been involved with MBG since joining the entrepreneurship initiative in Fall 2020.

Brandon Krupczak

Vice President of Communications

Claire is a third-year undergraduate studying Biological Engineering. Her previous work in the Lauffenburger Lab examined how cytokine stimulation affects transcriptional state in an in vitro B cell system. Claire has been involved with MBG since Fall 2022.

Claire Wu

Co-VP of Finance

Alexandra is a third-year undergraduate studying Computer Science and Molecular Biology and Finance. Her research in the Langer-Tsai lab seeks to improve brain-on-a-chip models of neurological pathogenesis, while her research in the Coley lab enhances drug candidate selection. She has been involved with MBG since Fall 2022.

Alexandra Volkova

Co-VP of Finance

Grace is a fourth-year undergraduate student at MIT majoring in Chemical-Biological Engineering and Biology.  Her work in the Furst Lab focuses on engineering microbes to act as electrochemical biosensors. She has been involved with MBG since Fall 2021, previously serving as co-Director of the Career Fair.

Grace Yang

Vice President of Sponsorship

Initiative Directors

Amanda is a sixth-year PhD Candidate in the HST Medical Engineering & Medical Physics program. She is advised by Prof. Michael Birnbaum and studies antiviral humoral immunity via high-throughput multiplexed serum assays. Amanda is broadly interested in researching the roles antibodies play in infection, allergy, and autoimmunity. She has been involved with MBG since Fall 2023.

Amanda Hornick

Co-Director, Industry Initiative

Alexander is a fourth-year Biological Engineering PhD Candidate in the labs of Jongyoon Han and Jianzhu Chen. He combines microfluidic device engineering with commercial bioprocessing equipment to improve viral vector harvest yields. He has been involved with MBG since Fall 2023.

Alexander Bevacqua

Co-Director, Industry Initiative

Mei Yi is a 3rd year PhD student in Bioengineering at MIT advised by Professor Katharina Ribbeck. She is currently studying the effects of mucin and mucin glycans on immune cells and epithelial cells with a focus on developing mucin-based treatments for bacterial vaginosis. Mei Yi is interested in VC and entrepreneurship in biotech for women’s health and has been involved with MBG since Fall 2022.

Mei Yi You

Co-Director, Entrepreneurship Initiative

Kevin is a 2nd year MIT Sloan MBA candidate who combines his medical doctor and digital health entrepreneur background with experience launching innovative therapies at Novartis. His passion lies in making life science innovations globally accessible, leveraging his unique blend of clinical expertise and business acumen to drive healthcare advancements.

Kevin Yang

Co-Director, Entrepreneurship

Ananth is a fourth-year undergraduate studying Computer Science and Molecular Biology. He is interested in cancer drug delivery and immunology research, as well as applications of machine learning in the life sciences. His research in the Bhatia Lab focuses on designing novel lung cancer nanomedicines and therapeutic delivery systems. Ananth has been involved with MBG since Fall 2022.

Ananth Shyamal

Co-Director, Undergraduate Initiative

Clarence is a third-year undergraduate studying Biological Engineering and Chemistry. He is interested in developing biomolecular tools for studying physiological systems. With the Boyden Lab, he is researching technology for spatially multiplexing genetically encoded fluorescent reporters at subcellular resolutions. Clarence has been involved with MBG since Fall 2022.

Clarence Zheng

Co-Director, Undergraduate Initiative

Nikitha is a 2nd year undergraduate studying Computer Science & Molecular Biology. Her research in the Kellis Lab focuses on uncovering the evolutionary differences in regulatory elements between humans and Neanderthals, while her research in the Kamm Lab focuses on designing vascularized microfluidic brain organoids. Nikitha has been involved with MBG since Fall 2023.

Nikitha Thoduguli

Co-Director, Community Engagement Initiative

Diya is a 2nd year undergraduate studying Biology and Computer Science. She is interested in cancer genomics, RNA biology, and precision medicine. Her research in Vander Heiden Lab focuses on elucidating the metabolic dependencies of various cancers in the hopes of later utilizing them as therapeutic targets. She has been involved with MBG since Fall 2023.

Diya Ramesh

Co-Director, Community Engagement Initiative

Ayantu is a third year undergraduate student studying Computer Science and Molecular Biology. Her research in the Cancer Data Science Lab works to identify mutations driving alternative splicing and determine associations between cancer dependency and genomic features using a machine learning approach. Ayantu has been involved with MBG since Fall 2022.

Ayantu Tamene

Co-Director, Career Fair

Kien is a 3rd year undergraduate studying Computer Science and Molecular Biology with a minor in Mathematics. His work in the White Lab at the Koch Institute focuses on the repertoire of cross-presented peptides on MHC complexes of dendritic cells in the context of glioblastoma brain cancer while working to improve the lab’s immunopeptidomics workflow. Kien has been involved with MBG since Spring 2023.

Kien Phuong

Co-Director, Career Fair

Emily is a 2nd year undergraduate, intending to study Biological Engineering at MIT. Some of her past research projects have involved utilizing machine learning methods for characterizing the microRNA profile of various cancer types. As of Spring of 2024, she has joined the Tsai Lab, and intends to work with high-throughput screening to investigate Alzheimer Disease progression. Emily has been involved with MBG since Fall 2023.

Emily Hu

Social Chair