Chris Miller, Ph.D.
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More about Chris...Chris Miller is a Professor of Biological Psychology at California State University, Fresno, and a recent alumnus of the Neuroscience PhD Program at Stanford School of Medicine with extensive teaching and research experience and a strong commitment to higher education.
Chris is passionate about science education. He currently teaches a variety of neuroscience and psychology courses at Fresno State and previously taught the highly popular "Introduction to Neuroscience" and "Abnormal Psychology" courses to undergraduates and "The Nervous System" to first-year MD students at Stanford University as well as science outreach and college access courses to students throughout Northern California. He also previously worked as a high-school science teacher in downtown Atlanta, where his biology students earned the designation of the highest-performing and highest-gains science classrooms in the Atlanta Public School District. Chris is fascinated by the neuroscience of human emotion, cognition, and behavior. His scientific research aims to integrate knowledge from neuroscience, psychology, and psychiatry to improve our understanding of mental illness. His work currently involves using a type of brain scan (fMRI) to explore the underlying neural basis of depression and anxiety in order to improve diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. Chris has published several academic papers, including a meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies in depressed youth (JAMA Psychiatry, 2015) and a review paper of a subtype of OCD that was highlighted by the New York Times as one of the “Year’s Best Ideas” in 2008. In his personal time, Chris enjoys bicycling in the foothills, listening to hip-hop music, playing Frisbee with his dog Titan, and relaxing on the beach with friends. |
Tawaun Lucas
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More about Tawaun...Tawaun Lucas grew up in Compton, California. He is a PhD candidate in the Neurosciences Program At Stanford University. Tawaun did his undergraduate studies at California State University, Northridge, where he majored in Psychology.
Shifting his focus slightly in graduate school, his dissertation work examines the role of peripheral glia in immune responses and inflammation. Using a molecular approach, he is defining previously understudied glia in the spleen, a major immune organ, and their role in organ specific responses that are mediated by the nervous system. Outside of research, Tawaun is passionate about social justice as well as fitness. He is one of the founding students of the Diversity Center of Representation and Empowerment (D-CORE) in the School of Medicine at Stanford, has actively participated in many activism opportunities on campus, and plans to lead a career where he is able to effect change at the university level. Alongside this, he also actively participates in obstacle course races and is also a personal trainer and group fitness instructor at the Stanford gym. |
Edritz Javelosa
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More about Edritz...Edritz Javelosa, a Philippine native and a former McNair scholar at the University of Arizona, is a doctoral student in the Neurosciences program at Stanford University. Edritz is currently investigating the underlying mechanisms of how parkin, a protein important for targeting other proteins for degradation, is being regulated or activated.
Being the first in her immediate family to earn a bachelor's degree and attend graduate school, Edritz understands the value of education and is dedicated to educate and mentor the next generation of diverse young scholars. At Stanford she was highly involved in the Grad FLIP (First-generation Low Income Partnership) student organization, and was the outreach coordinator for the GSC DAC (Graduate Student Council Diversity Advocacy Committee). Both organizations helped create a supportive and fun community for graduate students from diverse backgrounds. As an advocate for mentoring and teaching she was involved in the SURGE program and Biosciences' Advance leadership team, where she mentored undergraduate and incoming graduate students, respectively. Additionally, she recently taught a two-week course discussing diversity and inclusion issues and solutions in STEM. During her free time Edritz loves being outdoors, climbing rocks, exploring new places and cultures, dancing, hanging out with friends, and working out. |
Jessica Ahoni
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More about Jessica...Jessica is a CPA working as a Project Manager at Google. Jessica received her MBA from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University in 2012 and has extensive global experience working as a consultant and project manager.
Jess is deeply committed to community development and creating access to quality education. As a first generation child growing up in a rural area, Jessica has seen first hand the challenges underrepresented minorities face in having equal access to top educational programs. She hopes to inspire others to overcome adversity by expanding quality education to students at a young age. Jess is also passionate about personal fitness. As the founder of Body by JA, Jess strives to help people achieve an overall fit and healthy lifestyle, despite having demanding careers. She provides 1-on-1 and group training to clients. She is the VP of Fitness for BounceSF, San Francisco's premier diverse fitness community, and she teaches a weekly HIIT class on Google's campus. In her personal time, Jess enjoys spending time at the beach, hiking, social dancing, and traveling the world. |
Bella Lazzareschi
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More about Bella...Bella joined Apogee Education as the instructional services manager and co-instructor. She manages scheduling of courses, instructors, and guest speakers and enjoys being in the classroom interacting with students as much as possible.
Bella earned undergraduate degrees in English Literature and Psychology from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and has since been doing psychology research at Stanford University. She studies adolescent psychopathology through brain imaging scans and administers diagnostic clinical interviews to adolescent participants. She has a long-standing interest in community development and education access and has experience teaching in a multitude of contexts. She’s previously taught English in a bilingual elementary school in northern Italy, tutored in American Sign Language classrooms, and taught lessons in equine therapy for adolescents with physical or mental disabilities. She now focuses on working with under-served populations and recently started a program in East Palo Alto with a young women's group, in which she facilitates discussions on social issues around femininity, race, health, resilience, and education. Bella spends much of her free time in the ceramics studio, and she continues to teach horseback riding lessons at a local barn on the weekends. |
Akua Nimarko
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More about Akua...Akua is a PhD Candidate in Neurosciences at Stanford University. Her current research involves understanding how neural factors contribute to resilience to adolescent depression. As an alumna of the Meyerhoff Scholars Program at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and a former MARC U*STAR Scholar, Akua has developed a strong passion for science communication, outreach, and education.
Growing up in a disadvantaged background, Akua has personally witnessed the struggles of pursuing a science career without proper guidance and support. Therefore, she strives to inspire and mentor the next generation of scientists. During her undergraduate years, Akua served as a teaching assistant for several science courses, and currently tutors students in the Bay area. Akua is the current Vice President for Stanford’s Biomedical Association for Minority Students (BioAIMS), and serves on the leadership team for Stanford’s Summer Research Program (SSRP), a diversity initiative summer research internship program for undergraduate graduate. During her free time, Akua enjoys listening to music, watching movies, dancing, exploring new places, and spending time with her friends. |
Elizabeth Santamaría
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More about Elizabeth...Elizabeth Santamaría is an Academic Tutor based in Palo Alto. Elizabeth graduated from California State University, Northridge, majoring in Child and Adolescent Development and Psychology.
As a professional tutor, Elizabeth specializes in working with students who have diverse learning needs. Her background in Child Development has given rise to unique tutoring techniques. Her philosophy and personalized curriculum focuses on the whole person which results in optimal learning. Elizabeth has maintained a consistent track record and metrics of visible improvement in student academic performance. One of her biggest successes is the ability to see her students master the skills and subjects they once found most difficult. More than anything, she is passionate about helping her students succeed and achieve their goals. Elizabeth spent her undergraduate research in the field with Child Life Specialists, specifically working with hospitalized children and their families. While doing so she implemented family support programs at Tarzana Providence Hospital. As a result, she enjoys volunteering at children’s hospitals where she can help children and their family cope with medical environments through medical play and group exercises. In her free time, Elizabeth enjoys making a mess in her kitchen, visiting thrift stores to hunt for antique treasures, and going on day trips with her family and friends. |
Brooke Babineau, Ph.D.
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More about Brooke...Brooke has had a lifelong interest in Autism and neurodevelopmental disorders. Understanding the neural underpinnings of behavioral disorders led her to pursue a BS in Neurobiology and then a PhD in Neuroscience both from UC Davis.
Following her Ph.D. she received training at the National Institute of Health and UCSF. She is now a senior research scientist in the Palmer Laboratory at Stanford University. In addition to enjoying her time at the bench, Brooke is passionate about educating the next generation of neuroscientists. She has participated in various education programs sponsored through UCSF, taught lecture and lab courses at Bay Area Universities, and mentored undergraduate, graduate, and high school students. When not in the lab or in front of the classroom, Brooke spends her free time spoiling her dog Ollie, and enjoys the California outdoors by hiking, biking, snowboarding, and skiing. |
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Selina Dasol Kim Classroom Aide |
More about Selina...Selina Dasol Kim is a high school student at Archbishop Mitty High school. She enjoys learning about neuroscience, biology, and computer science; accordingly, she has taken Duke University’s Medical Neuroscience course on Coursera and is a Coursera Mentor for Andrew Ng’s Machine Learning course. In addition, she was second place in the 2017 Bay Area Brain Bee, a high school neuroscience competition.
One of her goals is to teach children and people her age about science—she hopes that some of them will be with her in a science career in the future! She’s very interested in teaching people in various disciplines. As a volunteer leader at the Academy for Music and Arts for Special Needs, she guides students with special needs in learning art and music, and at school, she works to increase awareness about various issues such as human trafficking. In her free time, she hangs out with friends, does ikebana (Japanese flower arranging), and plays her part as an avid bookworm by reading a lot of books. |
