Alumni

Huy Tuan Pham earned a doctorate in mathematics from Stanford and was named a Clay Research Fellow in 2023.  His research focuses on combinatorics and probability, in particular the analysis of large networks and random networks. His work has applications in fields such as number theory, theoretical computer science, and machine learning. Among his research contributions to different areas in combinatorics and probability, he has proved the Kahn-Kalai conjecture on thresholds and Talagrand’s conjectures on suprema of selector and empirical processes. Pham worked with SSF faculty host Jacob Fox, as well as other faculty members in related areas, to further his research. He also hopes to help disadvantaged students from developing countries on their paths to pursuing research in mathematics.  Pham is currently a scholar at the Institute for Advanced Studies and will start as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy at CalTech in the autumn of 2025.  

Kimberly Carter-Fenk earned a doctorate at The Ohio State University.  At Stanford she pursued research on fundamental dynamics and intermolecular interactions in deep eutectic solvents, which have applications in the development of fuel cells. Carter-Fenk’s interests span quantum chemistry, spectroscopy, and climate science and sustainability. She was recognized for outstanding teaching at Ohio State, and at Stanford she has served as a mentor to first-generation and low-income students and a representative on the Disability Staff Forum. Kimberly is a Teaching Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh.

Mia de los Reyes earned a doctorate in astrophysics at Caltech, where she studied the formation and evolution of galaxies, especially low-mass “dwarf galaxies.” As a Science Fellow, she investigated how the Milky Way and nearby galaxies differ from others in the universe. She was an active member of Astrobites, an international team of graduate students who make astrophysical research accessible to the general public. Mia is an Assistant Professor of Astronomy at Amherst College.

Stepfanie Aguillon holds a bachelor's and a master's degree from the University of Arizona and a PhD in ecology and evolutionary biology from Cornell University. She has interests in behavioral ecology and evolutionary biology and seeks to understand how genes influence the way organisms look and behave. As a Science Fellow, she studied the genetic basis of mate choice behavior in a hybridizing fish system. Aguillon’s research has appeared in Proceedings of the Royal Society B and PLoS Genetics, among other venues, and she has published on the topic of science education. Stepfanie is an Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UCLA.

Brian Hie is interested in using technology to understand interactions between pathogens and their host organisms. As a doctoral student in electrical engineering and computer science at MIT, he developed novel applications of machine learning to biology and achieved important insights into viral mutation, and he is first author of papers appearing in venues such as Science and Nature Biotechnology. Brian has worked as a software engineer for Google X, Salesforce, and Illumina and holds three patents.  He currently holds a joint appointment as an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Data Science and Chemical Engineering at Stanford.

Zhurun Ji earned a doctoral degree in physics at the University of Pennsylvania. She pursues experimental and theoretical approaches in the area of condensed matter physics. Her work has appeared in the journals Science and Nature Materials. At Stanford she investigated the nature of electrons and worked on developing quantum materials for use in the next generation of green electronics. Ji is currently a Panofsky Fellow at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and will be joining the faculty of MIT in the fall of 2025.

Cody McCoy received her PhD in organismic and evolutionary biology from Harvard University. She holds a master’s degree in environmental policy from Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar. The focus of McCoy’s research is biological adaptations related to light, such as the coloration that allows birds and spiders to absorb more than 99 percent of light and thus appear “super black.” Her work has been featured in outlets including Scientific American and The New York Times. McCoy is an Assistant Professor in Ecology and Evolution and the Marine Biology Lab at the University of Chicago.

Maggie Miller obtained her PhD from Princeton University where she was an NSF Graduate Fellow. Before coming to Stanford, Maggie was an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at MIT.  Maggie is a Clay Research Fellow.  She works on geometric topology and is interested in understanding surfaces in 4-dimensions. At Stanford Maggie broadened her work on topology of low-dimensional manifolds to include modern ideas from gauge theory.  She is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at the University of Texas-Austin.

Vishal Patil received his PhD from MIT in the field of applied mathematics. His work deals with topology and geometry in the context of elastic materials, including fibers with adaptive properties that are capable of mimicking neural networks and biological systems such as tumors. Patil’s research, which has been published in the journals Science and Nature, has applications in a range of fields, including engineering and medicine; he was collaborated with cardiac surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital to improve surgical knots. Vishal is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at the University of California, San Diego.

Cody Aldaz studied chemistry at the University of New Mexico and the University of Michigan. He has received support for his work from the Department of Energy and the California Alliance Research Exchange, which brought him to Stanford as a visiting graduate student in 2018, where he pursued collaborations spanning the areas of photochemistry, computational chemistry, organic chemistry, and spectroscopy. As a Stanford Science Fellow, he continued his work developing materials for application in medicine, defense technology, and other fields.  Cody is currently a data scientist at Acelot.

Ina Anreiter is a behavioral biologist and geneticist with interests in human development, neuroscience, and computer science. She studied at the University Lisbon and the University of Toronto, where she earned a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. In 2019–20 she was a Schmidt Science Fellow and a visiting researcher at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research. She is currently developing computational tools for the study of genetics and furthering her research on the long-term effects of environment and experience on biological processes. Ina is now an Assistant Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto.  Congratulations, Ina!

Sarah Cooley holds a PhD in Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences from Brown University. Cooley’s research focuses on harnessing miniature satellites to remotely study greenhouse methane emissions from Arctic waters. She is passionate about building a stronger community of women and underrepresented minorities in her field and seeks opportunities to engage with, and learn from, the Indigenous Arctic residents of the regions she studies.  Cooley is currently an Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Oregon. Congratulations to Sarah, the Stanford Science Fellows program's first alum!

Ivana Cvijović holds a PhD in Systems Biology from Harvard. As a Lewis-Sigler Theory Fellow at Princeton, she studied how populations of white blood cells, the basis of the immune system, evolve over the course of an individual’s lifetime. Her work combines evolutionary theory and the methods of physics and mathematics to understand how mutation and natural selection shape genetic diversity within large populations.  After completing the Stanford Science Fellows program, Ivana is continuing her research at Stanford.

Caleb Lareau studied biochemistry and mathematics at the University of Tulsa and biostatistics at Harvard. With support from the National Cancer Institute, he conducted his doctoral research at Harvard Medical School and the Broad Institute, where he developed new biotechnical and computational tools for understanding the genetic mechanisms underlying blood production in humans. As a Stanford Science Fellow, he collaborated with researchers in the School of Medicine to understand genetic relationships among cells in the human body and investigate how cells respond to damage and disease.  Caleb is now an Assistant Professor in the Computational & Systems Biology program at the Sloan Kettering Institute.

Shankari Rajagopal earned her PhD in physics from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she earned her PhD.  She has been active in mentoring and outreach. As a Science Fellow, Shankari pursued experimental investigations of novel phases of matter as a Science Fellow.  She is continuing her research in the Schleier-Smith lab and will be joining the Physics Department at the University of Michigan as an Assistant Professor in January 2025.

Viktoryia Shautsova received her bachelor’s degree in computer science from Belarus State University and a PhD in physics from Imperial College London. She draws upon her deep knowledge in physics, material science, neuroscience and biology to develop nanoscale brain-computer interfaces for studying the human brain that could one day be allow people to interact with artificial intelligence systems. Viktoryia is continuing her research at Stanford.

Alfredo Valencia earned a doctoral degree in chemical biology from Harvard where he conducted research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He was also an active member of the Minority Biomedical Scientists of Harvard and received recognition as a Diversity and Inclusion Fellow.  Alfredo is also the recipient of a Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship.  As a Stanford Science Fellow, he continued his work on genetics and developmental disorders.  He is continuing his research in the Pasca lab at Stanford.