Petit Lanier Scholars

Nathan Hoang

2026

Nathan is a second-year majoring in Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech working in the Miocinovic lab. He is interested in genetic engineering and developing innovative technology for neurological and immunological applications. 

Touba Kamal

2026

Touba is a third-year Presidential Scholar at Georgia State University majoring in Neuroscience with a Pre-medical concentration. She is passionate about bridging the gap between regenerative medicine and neuroscience, with a long-term goal of contributing to treatments for neurodegenerative diseases and spinal cord injuries. Touba is pursuing her passion in the Stanley lab. In her free time, she enjoys reading, painting, and exploring new places.

Deandra Smith

2026

Deandra is a second-year Neuroscience major with a minor in Health and Medical Science at Georgia Tech. Working in the Singer lab, Deandra is interested in the mechanisms behind neurodegenerative disorders and how neurotechnology can be used to approach this issue.

Irene Tian

2026

Irene is a second-year Computer Engineering major at Georgia Tech. Interested in the neural mechanisms underlying perception and decision-making, she is working with the Haider Lab to study neural circuit activity associated with impaired perceptual behavior in neurological disorders.

Wenting Ye

2026

Nini (Wenting) Ye is a third-year at Emory University, majoring in Neuroscience & Behavior Biology with a minor in Artificial Intelligence. She is interested in a hybrid of neuro-engineering, molecular genetics, and immunology and is working in the Borich lab. Her goal is to become a scientist who can translate discovery into meaningful, patient-centered insights. 

Shreya Dhara

2025

Shreya Dhara is a second-year Neuroscience major and Computer Science minor at the Georgia Tech. She is interested in
neurotechnology and studying diseases that impact motor
control.  Working with Dr. Lewis Wheaton in the Cognitive Motor Control lab, Shreya is studying gaze and kinematic patterns in
individuals who are using prosthetic devices.

Elliot Huang

2025

Curious about the neural and cognitive mechanisms, Elliot is
collaborating with Dr. Simon Sponberg to investigate how
hawkmoths adapt their sensorimotor controllers when faced with changing dynamics. Elliot is a third-year undergraduate at Georgia Tech double-majoring in Computer Science and Psychology. His goal is to develop quantitative models of
cognition that can guide personalized, evidence-based
treatments for human psychological disorders. 

Sahit Mamidipaka

2025

Sahit is a third-year undergraduate research assistant at Georgia Tech, majoring in Computer Science and minoring in Economics. He’s really curious and interested in the field of brain-computer interfaces. Sahit is working in the Pandarinath Lab to help
develop a novel motor unit sorting algorithm and creating a benchmarking platform for researchers to evaluate and upload their own custom neural sorting algorithms.

Vanessa Sun

2025

Vanessa is a second-year Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology & Psychology double major at Emory University. Currently, she is working in the Translational Neuroengineering Research Lab
under the guidance of Dr. Claire-Anne Gutekunst. Vanessa plans to pursue medicine in neurology and is very interested in
developing novel technologies and therapies for Epilepsy.

Benjamin Fargnoli

2024

Ben is currently majoring in Biophysics at Emory University and is working with Lena Ting’s lab to develop algorithmic tools that can diagnose neurodegeneracy and give patients data driven methods for facilitating rehabilitation.

Joon Han Kim

2024

Joon is a Neuroscience major at Emory University, currently working in the Ting Lab.

Ruorong Qi

2024

Ruorong is a second-year Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology & Math double-major at Emory University. Currently working in the Emanuel Lab, she desires to contribute to the field of
neuroscience, immunology, and genetics research, as well as pharmaceutical drug development and biostatistics applications.

Megha Seri

2024

As an undergraduate researcher at GA Tech, Megha is currently working with researchers in the Singer Lab to investigate
non-invasive methods of regenerating the immune cells that
deplete from dementia, and its variants. Her goal is to dive into pharmaceutical research that pertains to the neurodegenerative diseases.

Jifei Xiao

2024

Jifei is a Biomedical Engineering undergraduate student at GA Tech working in Lena Ting’s lab. She is very interested in
neurotechnologies, genetic engineering, and medical device
research and development.