Saba Kolahchian is a Ph.D. student in communications at UC Davis and manages the Virtual Interaction and Communication Technology Lab under Dr. Jorge Peña. Her research explores emotion regulation in video games, media–fan feedback loops, and design elements that create specific emotional outcomes.

Jessica Korte is a Ph.D. candidate in the biomedical engineering department and a joint member of the FAN Lab and the Joiner Motor Lab. Her research combines neuro imaging with behavioral neuroscience techniques. She focuses on how learning abilities change with age and how these behavioral differences reflect the effect of age on the brain.

Kristina Lai is a 5th-year Ph.D. candidate in epidemiology who specializes in using immune biomarkers to generate insights that guide vaccine introduction, identify high-risk populations, and track disease circulation.

Clarisa Martinez is a Ph.D. Candidate investigating how the gut microbiome and other factors influence T-cell differentiation in type 1 diabetes.

Subhaditya Mitra is a graduate student researcher focused on robotics, automation, and digital twin development for construction vehicles. He enjoys merging structural engineering with advanced manufacturing, robotics, and automation to push the boundaries of innovation in engineering.

Vardhan Peddamallu is a Ph.D. candidate in chemical engineering at UC Davis, where he studies virus–host protein interactions in Dr. Priya Shah’s lab. His research focuses on disrupting a critical Zika virus–host interaction to reduce viral replication and disease pathogenesis.

Afshan Qamar is a Ph.D. student in energy systems at UC Davis, developing advanced control strategies for grid-interactive buildings to improve energy efficiency. Her work focuses on automating and optimizing building loads to integrate renewable energy and reduce costs and emissions.

Marietta Ravesloot-Chavez is a postdoctoral fellow in veterinary medicine, focusing on monoclonal antibody development for canine cancer. She develops novel diagnosis and therapeutic antibodies for use in canine cancer therapy. 

Archan Vyas is a Ph.D. candidate in chemical engineering working under Professor Atul Parikh in the Biomedical Engineering Department at UC Davis. His research investigates the effects of osmotic stresses and macromolecular crowding on membrane structures and the creation of cell-like mimics.

Pelin Yüksel is a Ph.D. candidate in horticulture and agronomy at UC Davis. Her research focuses on developing lettuce that is resistant to downy mildew, a disease causing major economic losses. Her work reduces chemical use and yield losses and shortens breeding by years.