Undergraduate Research Scholarships

Carissa Chu is a human biology major and health care-social issues minor from Los Altos, CA. Her interests lie in neuroscience, health policy, and global health. She currently serves as co-president of the Roosevelt Institution, a seminar assistant in Warren College Scholars Seminar, and a national leader on the Global Health Action Committee of AMSA, the American Medical Student Association. Her research project, entitled "Activity-Dependent Regulation of the 26S Proteasome in Hippocampal Neurons by Calmodulin-Dependent Kinase II (CaMKII),” seeks to characterize a signaling pathway whose disregulation may play a role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

Michelle Han is a biology major and psychology minor from Westlake Village, California. She is interested in medicine, public health, women’s rights, reproductive freedom, and international affairs, and hopes to combine these interests into one career in the future. As for her hobbies, she enjoys reading, swimming, hiking, rock climbing, and camping. Her research project is entitled "The Role of Gender in Coping with HIV and Seeking Care in Arusha, Tanzania."

Nastasha Tan is a double major in Cognitive Science and Psychology. Her hometown is Sunnyvale, California. She is an active member in Warren as a Community Coordinator for Residential Life and a Writing Mentor for the Warren Writing Center. Nastasha is also involved in Associated Students as a Director for Volunteer Connection. She also volunteers on campus at the Human Computer Interaction-Distributed Cognition Lab. Her research, “Life Logging with SenseCam,” will involve using Microsoft Research’s SenseCam prototype to investigate the relationship between life-logging technology and human memory. Nastasha enjoys cars, running, road biking, cooking/baking, and art.

Zhe Wen is a mechanical engineering student involved in the human powered submarine project team of ASME, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. His research project attempts to realize a concept of water jet propulsion system underwater that has been failed previously by many others. His sole goal is to win the world record back to UCSD from a bunch of Canadians.

As product 3.0 of two U.C. alumni parents, nephew of eight Bruins, and cousin of one Fightin’ Banana Slug, Kenneth Wong has proudly rooted-on the UCSD MerPeople since 2006.  A Third World Studies and Microbiology double major, he aims to combat pediatric infectious diseases overseas.  Kenneth served as an ASUCSD Senator and was named 2008 Community Member of the Year by ResLife.  He was also named a “malaria geek” by good-natured peers for studying in Ghana, so that he could eyeball malaria firsthand.  Kenneth researches tropical maladies and cherishes the PCR array, cDNA kit, and qPCR mastermix that this scholarship bequeaths.

Roza Anbari is from Saratoga, California. Her major is Mechanical Engineering and minor is Political Science. Roza is an orientation leader, co-founder of Science and Engineering Public Policy Association, and serves as publicity chair for Society of Women Engineers. She also serves on the San Diego Youth Services’ Associate Board and mentors homeless youth to transition into college. Her research, “Sound Localization” will involve designing a sound positioning system for autonomous robots tracking pollution or smoke plumes in an outdoor setting where visual localization methods may not be available or feasible. Post UCSD, Roza will be pursuing a Masters in Mechanical Engineering and a JD in Intellectual Property and Public Policy. Roza enjoys dancing, exercising, and spending time with her family and friends.