EXECUTIVE TEAM
The Executive Team is composed of Postdoctoral Fellows and Ph.D. Candidates who are passionate about our mission. We are dedicated to helping Ph.D.s and M.D.s prepare to transition from academia into a successful career of management consulting. Each officer is appointed annually through a highly competitive and rigorous recruitment process to ensure that our members are served by the most talented, motivated and experienced individuals.
Yash Khemka
President
Ph.D. Candidate, Rice University
Yash is a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Rice University. His research focuses on predicting asphaltene deposition in oil wells – often called the cholesterol of petroleum. He is also developing models to predict viscosity of crude oils which can assist in oil spill cleanups. Prior to joining Rice, Yash graduated with a Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering from IIT Bombay, India. He is an avid poker player, leads the boxing club at Rice and has a passion for extreme sports.
Jeanne Manalo
VP - Education and Events
Ph.D. Candidate, MD Anderson UTHealth GSBS
Jeanne is a 4th year Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at MD Anderson UTHealth GSBS. She is in the Neuroscience Program working on her thesis investigating the relationship between adenosine and hearing loss. She believes that understanding this relationship with a molecular signaling perspective will contribute to developing alternative therapeutic strategies for a very common disability. Outside of lab, she founded the Association of Science Communication organization and served as the External Relations VP last year. Jeanne received a BS in Biology at the University of St. Thomas – Houston. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, hiking, trying restaurants, watching anime, and playing video games.
Abiodun Bodunrin
VP - External Relations
Ph.D. Candidate, University of Houston
Carlos Kramm, Ph.D.
VP - Finance and Operations
Postdoctoral Associate, Baylor College of Medicine
Abiodun is a fourth-year Biochemistry Ph.D. candidate at the University of Houston. His research is focused on bacterial dormancy and establishing Micrococcus luteus bacteria as a less complicated model to study dormancy in bacteria. He is currently working on the structure, function and characterization of the Universal Stress Proteins (USP) in Micrococcus luteus, implicated in bacterial dormancy. He recently discovered that one of the Universal Stress Proteins in Micrococcus luteus might be involved in regulating bacterial growth. Prior to joining the University of Houston, Abiodun graduated with an MSc in Biotechnology from West Virginia State University. Outside of the laboratory, he enjoys traveling, volunteering, cooking, catching up on global politics, military history and watching sci-fi movies.
Carlos is currently working as a postdoctoral associate at Baylor College of medicine. He has studied the presymptomatic detection of prion disease in wild and captive deer. His work in collaboration with the USDA has been published in important scientific journals and now he wants to develop new technologies for the early diagnosis and treatment of patients. He is originally from Chile a received his Biochemistry degree from the Austral University of Chile. He enjoys his free time traveling and trying new food. Passionate about nature, meditation, wildlife, dogs, Formula 1 racing and EDM music.
Xinyaun Zhang
VP - Consulting Agency
Ph.D. Candidate, School of Biomedical Informatics UT Health
Xinyuan is a 4th year Ph.D. candidate at the School of Biomedical Informatics, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. She received her Master’s degree in Applied Mathematics from the University of Houston. Xinyuan has been working in different informatics projects. She analyzes drug safety events with a view to conducting post-marketing surveillance. Her Ph.D. thesis focus on developing computer algorithms to improve the interpretability of an automatic skin cancer images diagnose system. She is excited to contribute to the state-of-the-art medical technologies to help improve the quality of care. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, reading, volunteering for animal shelters, and exploring the world.
Anton Zhang, Ph.D.
AVP - Education and Events
Postdoctoral Researcher, Rice University
Anton is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Materials Science and Nanoengineering at Rice University, currently developing AI-powered simulation tools for the mechanics and growth of nanomaterials for next-generation device applications. He has a spectrum of interests and experience in the business world, including the 2015 Entrepreneur Fellowship from the Jones School of Business of Rice University, the 2019 Geotech Innovation Program hosted by the United Arab Emirates Space Agency, and leading a team to the finals of the 2020 UTSW Health Care Case Competition in Dallas. He received his BE from Tsinghua University, China and Ph.D. in Materials Science from Rice University. Before coming back to Rice, he worked as a geophysicist in the upstream Oil and Gas industry, handling data analytics and model building tasks as well as client communications. In his spare time, he is passionate about history, philosophy, public speaking, swing dance, and exploring the outdoors with friends.
Mutian Zhang
AVP - External Relations
Ph.D. Candidate, Texas A&M University
Mutian is a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate at the Department of Center for Epigenetics & Disease Prevention of Institute of Biosciences & Technology, Texas A&M University. Majoring in Bioinformatics, his research focuses on genome-wide DNA methylation profiling of leukocytes which identifies CpG methylation signatures of aggressive prostate cancer. Before joining Texas A&M, he earned his master’s degree in Shandong University, China. Mutian enjoys travelling, cooking, playing video games and singing in his personal life.
Carlo Cristobal
AVP - Finance and Operations
Ph.D. Candidate, Baylor College of Medicine
Carlo is a third-year Ph.D. candidate at Baylor College of Medicine and the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s Hospital. His work focuses on understanding cellular mechanisms of nervous system development. He has also collaborated with Rice University’s Chemistry department to develop materials for nerve regeneration. He loves to read, sing, and play the guitar. He is in the top 3% of Taylor Swift fans globally.
Oscar Truong
AVP - Finance and Operations
Ph.D. Candidate, Baylor College of Medicine
Yuchen (Kelly) Feng, Ph.D.
AVP - Consulting Agency
Postdoctoral Associate, Baylor College of Medicine
Oscar is a third year Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine. His research investigates HIV/AIDS immunotherapy cure strategies in which engineered cells: 1) are protected from HIV infection, 2) restrict HIV proliferation, and 3) reduce HIV reservoirs. Oscar received his Bachelors of Science in Public Health Infectious Diseases from the University of Texas at Austin. In his free time he enjoys walking his dog, trying foods from different cultures, and watching Netflix.
Kelly is currently working as a postdoctoral associate at Baylor College of medicine trying to dissect the mechanisms by which signaling pathways cooperate in cancer, and to translate discoveries into new therapeutics for cancer patients. Prior to joining BCM, Kelly got her Ph.D. in Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Go blue! There, she studied the mechanism of the Nobel Prize-winning, highly disease related cellular process of Autophagy using genetic and biochemical tools. She has published 7 first author articles out of total of 10 in leading scientific journals during her graduate school. In her spare time, she loves travelling, baking, playing badminton and snuggling with her cat.