Lab Members

We are a small team of graduate and undergraduate students. We work to respect individual needs, styles, and career goals and mentor accordingly. The Wilkinson Neurophysiology aims to foster an environment of learning and educative caliber, and as such, many students are or carry on to be UROP (SJSU’s Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program) students, McNair Scholars, Student Research Fellowship (SRF) Receivers, U-RISE (Undergraduate Research Training Initiative for Student Enhancement) recipients, MARC (Maximizing Access to Research Careers) students, and more!

Amanda Guevara

• Postdoctoral Scholar and Lecturer (Biological Sciences)
• Joined Spring 2025

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Masters Students

• Liam Krueger (Fall 2025)
• David Martinez Mejia (Fall 2025)

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Undergraduates

• Sonia Torres (Spring 2026

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Alumni

2025-2026 Graduates/Alumni (Fall & Spring)

• Mayra Cardenas (MS); LSAMP
• Jaspinder Grewal (Master’s student)
• Frances Belleza (undergrad — U-RISE)
• Chia Chin “Zoe” Tsai (MS Biology – Physiology)
• Juan Osorio (MS Biology – Physiology)

2024-2025 Graduates/Alumni (Fall & Spring)

• Ana Villareal (undergrad)
• Mehek Parghi (BS)
• Sherry Tsai
• Husna Ibrahimkhail (MS)
• Harini Thillaivel (undergrad)
• Giancarlo Sponzilli (MS)
• Thao Pham (master’s student)
• Christine Tran (undergrad)
• Samrath Randhawa (undergrad)
• Leena Rehman (undergrad — UROP and LSAMP)

2023-2024 Graduates/Alumni (Fall & Spring)

• Tim Andrade (undergrad — U-RISE and Gavilan CC Program
• Pooja Asuri (undergrad)
• Aneisa Berrado (undergrad)
• Carissa Seaman (undergrad, UROP, SRF, and McNair
• Cammy Chun (Master’s Student); SRF
• Hoang-Vi Vu (MS); SRF
• Serena Ortiz (MS); UC Davis MCIP
• Emily Tan (undergrad)
• Marina Silva (undergrad — UROP)

2022-2023 Graduates/Alumni (Fall & Spring)

• Alexus Jackson (BS); LSAMP
• Maya Vallinayagam (BS)
• Ome Garcia (undergrad)
• Giselle Martinez (undergrad — U-Rise)
• Martina Reyes (undergrad)
• Priti Patel (undergrad)
• Adwait Pathak (undergrad)
• Marcy Samadi (undergrad)
• Sonika Saraiya (undergrad — U-RISE)
• Erika Snyder (undergrad — McNair)
• Denise Virgen (undergrad — U-RISE)

2021-2022 Graduates/Alumni (Fall & Spring)

• Teodomiro Gomez (MS); SRF
• Serena Ortiz (BS); U-RISE
• David Martinez Mejia (BS); U-RISE
• Remie Mandawe (MS)
• Danitza Cheline (BS); U-RISE

2020-2021 Graduates/Alumni (Fall & Spring)

• Miguel Macias (BS); LSAMP
• Alexandra Salazar (BS); U-RISE and LSAMP
• Seema Saleem (BS)
• Sai Byri (BS)
• Alondra Suarez (BS); LSAMP
• Alyssa Occiano (BS)

2019-2020 Graduates/Alumni

• Apoorva Karekal (MS Biological Sciences), Phd student, University of Oregon
• Enoch Kim (MS Biological Sciences), MD student, NSU Dr.Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine
• Steven Valdespino (BS, Biochemistry); U-RISE, Genentech
• Sarah Chu (BS, Microbiology)
• Romelia deVera (BS, Microbiology)
• Nikola Klier (BS, Molecular Biology)
• Solomon Morales (BA Biological Sciences); LSAMP
• Tyler Nguyen (BS, Biochemistry)
• Amin Parvizi (BS, Systems Physiology)

2018-2019 Graduates/Alumni

• Cebrina Bustos (MS Biological Sciences), Pulse Biosciences
• Mulatwa Haile (BS Systems Physiology), PhD student, UC Irvine
• Sam Hui (BS Systems Physiology with Honors)
• Maximilian Khan (Transferred to Santa Clara University)
• Sameer Masri (BS Psychology)
• Jenny Nguyen (BS Systems Physiology), Postbac Program UC Irvine
• Juan Reyna (BS Systems Physiology), Reagent Chemist at Cepheid
• Phylicia Sanchez (BS Systems Physiology); LSAMP
• Camilla Espindola Villarino (BA Biology), EMT
• Natanya Villegas (BS Microbiology); MARC and U-RISE, PhD student, University of Oregon
• Zahra Raza (transferred to UC Davis)

2017-2018 Graduates/Alumni

• Arthur Harnisch (MS Biological Sciences)
• Gerard Nguyen (MS Biological Sciences)
• Stephanie Behnke, (BS Psychology), Pediatric Behavior Therapist
• Milind Damani (BS Systems Physiology), Masters of Healthcare Admisistration Program Cornell University
• Meera Gandhi (BS Forensic Science)
• Megason Hill (BS Biochemistry), Medical Assistant at a Vascular Clinic
• Puneet Sanghera (BS Systems Physiology), MS Stem Cell Program San Francisco State

2016-2017 Graduates/Alumni

• Kim Than (MS Biological Sciences), Single Cell Technology
• Lubayna Elahi (MS Biological Sciences & SCILL Program), PhD student, UCLA
• Adam Abtahie (BS Systems Physiology), QC Analyst at Atreca, Inc
• Morgan Chang (BS Computer Science), DO Student at ATSU-SOMA
• Anthony Kwon (BS Kinesiology & MS Biological Sciences), MD student, University of Hawaii
• Shea Putnam (MS Biological Sciences), AstraZeneca
• Alejandro Lopez (BS Psychology); MARC, PhD student, Emory University
• Shreejit Padmanabhan (BS Biomedical Engineering), Quality Engineer at Duke Empirical

2015-2016 Graduates/Alumni

• Krystle Shamai (MS Biological Sciences)
• Lubayna Elahi (MS Biological Sciences & SCILL Program), PhD student, UCLA
• Adam Abtahie (BS Systems Physiology), QC Analyst at Atreca, Inc
• Morgan Chang (BS Computer Science), DO Student at ATSU-SOMA
• Anthony Kwon (BS Kinesiology & MS Biological Sciences), MD student, University of Hawaii
• Shea Putnam (MS Biological Sciences), AstraZeneca
• Alejandro Lopez (BS Psychology), PhD student, Emory University
• Shreejit Padmanabhan (BS Biomedical Engineering), Quality Engineer at Duke Empirical

2014-2015 Graduates/Alumni

• Anusha Allawala (BS, Biomedical Engineering), PhD student at Brown University
• Nina Bubalo (BS, Psychology), Dentist (USC Dental School)
• Remie Mandawe (BS, Systems Physiology), Bristol Myers Squibb
• Peter Nguyen (BS, Systems Physiology)

2013-2014 Graduates/Alumni

• Joy Franco (BS, Mechanical Engineering); MARC and U-RISE, PhD student at Stanford University

Summer RUMBA Alumni

• Kaylah Brown
• Alyssa Fuentez
• Génesis López
• Hector Delgado
• Kassina Kim-Hayes
• Gavilan College Summer Internship Alumni
• Serena Ortiz
• Tarianna Perez

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“Working together is the best part of being on our team. Go Wilkinson lab!”

David Martinez