The BPA Board governs the day-to-day business conducted by the association. The Board has four subcommittees, each of which organize events within their specific portfolio:
- Committee for Social Events.
- Committee for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
- Committee for Professional Development.
- Committee for Alumni Relations.
Core Leadership
Sina Naeimi
President
NHERI Simcenter
Sina is a postdoctoral researcher at NHERI Simcenter, UC Berkeley. His research is on the natural hazard risk modeling and regional-scale modeling of infrastructure when disrupted by a natural or man-made hazard.
Hobbies: Listening to podcasts, hobby-programming, exploring nature, and watching series.
Favorite song: Persian-classical and fusion music
Jasper Van de kreeke
Vice President & Professional Development Committee Co-Chair
Mathematics
Jasper is a first year postdoc at the mathematics department. He works in the field of mirror symmetry between algebra and geometry, where many questions originate from physics.
Hobbies: Cello playing, language learning, computer programming
Favorite song: pieces by Bach, Haydn and Dvořák
Jun Zhu
Secretary
Molecular and Cell Biology
Jun is a second year postdoc at Ji lab. Her research focuses on advanced microscopic techniques for biological imaging.
Hobbies: Kayaking, hiking, fitness
Favorite song: Songs by Zhou Shen, Mao Buyi, and Dimash kudaibergen
Esther (Jeong Yoon) Kim
Treasurer
Molecular and Cell Biology
Esther is a third year postdoc at the Robey lab in the department of Molecular and Cell Biology. She studies the development of immune cells in the thymus. Esther is broadly interested in how cells differentiate, and on an average day, she spends a lot of time with mice and the flow cytometer.
Hobbies: Watching films (and thinking about what to screen at BPA’s Film Club), playing tennis, and cooking (there is much joy to be found in butter, salt, and sugar)
Favorite song: Soundtrack from Cinema Paradiso
Board Members
Diana D. Moreno-Santillán
Social Committee Co-Chair
Integrative Biology
Diana is a 3rd year postdoc in the Vazquez-Medina lab at the Integrative Biology Department. She is an evolutionary biologist, born and raised in Mexico City. Diana’s research is focused on understanding the evolution of immunity and aging in mammals, with special focus on seals and bats.
Hobbies: Dancing keeps her alive! During her free time Diana enjoys being in nature, the sea or the mountains, as long as it is far away from the city.
Favorite song: Shakira, Stone Temple Pilots, Radiohead
Esther Parpal
Social Committee Co-Chair
Anthropology
Esther is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Art History at the University of Valencia (Spain) but she develops her postdoctoral project here, as a Visiting Scholar in the Department of Anthropology at UC Berkeley. Her research focuses on the study of ancient Maya visual culture from a gender perspective. More specifically, she is currently analyzing the construction of female artistic representations from the area of Chiapas (Mexico).
Hobbies: participate in amateur theater groups, enjoy bouldering despite the bruises and meet people by traveling and dancing
Favorite song: Hard to choose just one, but always Norah Jones.
Justin Lawrence Conner
Social Committee Co-Chair
Sarah El Khoury
DEI Committee Co-Chair
Integrative Biology
Sarah is a second year postdoc in the Shapira Lab, at the Department of Integrative Biology. Scientific nomad and raised between Brussels and Beirut. She is interested in understanding how environmental toxins affect the dynamics of the gut microbiome and the host’s long-term adaptation to these toxins.
Hobbies: Yoga, running, music, traveling, playing with the bees and meeting people from diverse cultures!
Favorite song: “C'est une belle journée” by Mylène Farmer
Carlos Iglesias Aguirre
DEI Committee Co-Chair
Innovative Genomics Institute
Carlos is a first-year postdoc in the Diamond lab at the Innovative Genomics Institute. His research focuses on the influence of gut microbial communities on infant susceptibility to asthma and allergic diseases. He is interested in leveraging these in vitro microbiomes as model systems to study their inflammatory effect and for the identification of functional traits that could serve as targets for precise microbiome editing.
Hobbies: trying different cuisines, weight training, traveling, and attending music events
Favorite music: Progressive trance and house
Sooyeon Yi
DEI Committee Co-Chair
Environmental Science, Policy, and Management
Sooyeon is a first-year postdoctoral researcher at Grantham’s Lab in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management. As a hydrologist, she focuses on managing water resources during extreme weather events like droughts and floods, driven by climate change. She is developing modeling scenarios that incorporate environmental flow needs into California’s water management strategies as part of the Collaboratory for Equity in Water Allocation project (COEQWAL).
Hobbies: traveling, biking, hiking, camping, swimming in the river
Favorite song: "Fireflies" by Owl City
Bernardine Rinkel
Professional Development Committee Co-Chair
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Bernadine Rinkel is a postdoc in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department specializing in the field of energy technologies, with a particular focus on energy storage and distributed resources. Bernadine's research revolves around lithium-ion batteries and their intricate electrochemical processes. Bernadine earned her Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge in 2022.
Jan Schuette-Engel
General Board Member
Marco Freschi
General Board Member
Marco is a postdoctoral researcher in the Mechanical Engineering Department at UC Berkeley. He got his PhD in Materials Engineering and Nanotechnology from Politecnico di Milano (Milan, Italy). His research project at UC Berkeley deals with morphing materials, particularly biodegradable natural-inspired actuators that will help with reforestation.
Hobbies: Concerts, reading novels, visiting museums, clubbing
Favorite music: Like a Prayer, Madonna
Jingyi He
General Board Member
Jingyi is a postdoc in Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry and Vision Science, specializing in human color vision. Her current work focuses on studying spatiotemporal integration in the human fovea using an adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscope. She earned her Ph.D. from Northeastern University in 2021.
Hobbies: traveling, hiking, kayaking, discovering great films/books/food
Favorite music: too many!
Former BPA Board Members
BPA Board 2024–2025: Sina Naeimi, Jasper van de Kreeke, Jun Zhu, Esther Kim, Diana Daniela Moreno Santillan, Tessa Scott, Esther Parpal, Justin Lawrence Conner, Sarah El Khoury, Carlos Iglesias Aguirre, Sooyeon Yi, Bernardine Rinkel, Jan Schütte-Engel, Marco Freschi, Jingyi He
BPA Board 2023–2024: Sarah El Khoury, Thomas Elston, Esther Kim, Leopoldo Mejia, David Quiroga, Rafael Quintero-Bermudez, Tessa Scott, Patrick Spaulding Ryan, Bernardine Rinkel, Diana Daniela Moreno Santillan
BPA Board 2022–2023: Michael Kosicki, Israel Borokini, Mark Plitt, Francesca Burgos Bravo, Alexandros Karampatzakis, Ana Vidu, Guanghan Meng, Xiao Liu, Kanika Khanna, Rafael Quintero-Bermudez
BPA Board 2021–2022: Helena Cantwell, Ludovica Luisa Vissat, Michael Kosicki, Sebastian Sandl, Federico D. Munch, Atiyya Shaw, Xiao Liu, Florentine (Flora) Rutaganira, Rohit Kolora, Molly Kozminsky, Amber Hornsby, Alexandros Karampatzakis, Francesca Burgos Bravo
BPA Board 2020–2021: Clotilde Cadart, Zara Bagdasarian, Mary Kristina Wharton, Laura Casto, Helene Cantwell, James Utterback, Caroline Figueroa, Molly Kozminsky, Florentine (Flora) Rutaganira, Thibaut Brunet, Ludovica Luisa Vissat, Rajit Rajappa
BPA Board 2019–2020: Rajit Rajappa, Zhihao Zhang, James Utterback, Laura Casto, Praveen Vayalamkuzhi, Thibaut Brunet, Clotilde Cadart, Helena Cantwell, Juan-Pablo Castillo, Pasquale (Paco) Cilibrizzi, Caroline Figueroa, Samantha M. Grist, Alain Naef, Sarah Leinwand
BPA Board 2018–2019: Behnam Ghalamchi, Rajit Rajappa, Juan-Pablo Castillo, Alicia Roy, Iskra Pollak Dorocic, Sarah Leinwand, Abby Kroken, Burcu Gumuscu Sefunc, Milan Delor, Praveen Vayalamkuzhi, Daniel Kim
BPA Board 2017–2018: Joyabrata Mal, Milan Delor, Martin R. Lichtenthaler, Benjamin Frandsen, Miguel Arratia, Samantha M. Grist, James Angus Chandler, Marta Vuckovic, Corinne Sadlowski, Nadya Vasilyeva, Marco Agostoni, Abby Kroken, Diana Fusco, Burcu Gumuscu Sefunc, Günther Thiele, Kaveh Gharehbaghi, Behnam Ghalamchi, Rutger Luteijn, Joe Papp, Iskra Pollak Dorocic