2022 Mentoring Pilot Project - Mentors

Leila Safavi

Mentor

Leila earned her Ph.D./MS in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering and BS in Chemistry, all from UCI. She is currently the CEO and Co-founder of Purist, a company based on a patented technology she co-invented during her graduate studies. In 2019 Purist was awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institutes of Health. Leila is also an entrepreneurial fellow at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Innovation Crossroads program. The Innovation Crossroads program and NIH SBIR have provided over half a million dollars in funding and resources to accelerate Purist’s technology towards commercialization. In 2021, Leila was selected to be in the first class of 250 entrepreneurs for Forbes’s NEXT 1000 list.

Current professional title and organization:
CEO, Purist Inc.
 
UCI graduate degree program and final degree completed:
Chemical & Biochemical Engineering, PhD
 
Professional Path:
My professional path since graduating in 2016 has been full of surprises. As an entrepreneur, I have juggled several projects and worn many different hats which have given me a unique skill set.
 
Hobbies/activities you enjoy outside of your professional life:
Reading, spending time with friends and family, traveling (pre pandemic 🙂 and hiking.

Paulos Lakew

Mentor

My background is in transportation economics and I have over eight years of transportation consulting and economic advisory experience. My work spans planning, environmental and public policy issues that affect airports and the broader transportation industry.

Current professional title and organization:
Associate, Steer Group
 
UCI graduate degree program and final degree completed:
Transportation Science (Economics Specialization), PhD
 
Professional Path:
I began my professional career in the public sector as a transportation economist and policy advisor at the California Air Resources Board. I then worked for an airport consultancy (Unison), supporting over 25 hub airports with planning, forecast development, economic impact studies and benefit-cost analyses for various airport improvement programs. I have now transitioned to Steer Group, where I’m continuing my transportation consultancy work and business development.
 
Hobbies/activities you enjoy outside of your professional life:
I enjoy running on trails and visiting national/state parks. I also like working on home-improvement projects.

Alma Zaragoza-Petty

Mentor

Dr. Alma Zaragoza-Petty is a community worker dedicated to systemic change by reimagining what is possible in the public and social impact sectors. She is skilled and experienced in organizational monitoring, evaluation, and learning, program strategy, and management. She has over 20 years of experience in the education field and 6 years as a consultant for faith-based organizations. She currently chairs the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee at a non-profit, where she works full-time supporting first-generation students to and through college and into their first professional career.

Current professional title and organization:
Professor (USC), Author, College Advisor (ScholarMatch)
 
UCI graduate degree program and final degree completed:
Education, PhD
 
Professional Path:
My professional path since completing my degree at UCI has been one of diving into community and non-profit leadership work. I’ve also teach current leaders across fields how to center equity in their practice and work towards systemic change.
 
Hobbies/activities you enjoy outside of your professional life:
Dr. Alma also serves on the board of directors for a bilingual preschool. She is the co-host of the Red Couch Podcast where she and her partner talk about justice, faith, culture, and politics. She is in the process of writing her first book, a personal narrative on social justice, mental health, and spirituality titled “Chingona: Owning your Inner Badass for Healing and Justice.” She enjoys hikes and meeting up with other parents for playdates.

John Nhieu

Mentor

My passion is focused on advancing health care through human-centered design, innovation, business development, and performance improvement. I am a Senior Project Manager and Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt with experience in healthcare strategy consulting, healthcare innovation project management, and business operations management. My strategic skills include developing program-wide solutions, leading cross-functional teams, and implementing complex transformational healthcare solutions. My advanced analytical skills include building financial models, performing operational feasibility and business risk assessment on new health care initiatives, and developing business cases/plans. My operational skills include designing, developing, and scaling innovative business ventures across different teams and geographical spaces. I am committed to teamwork and personal development with a strong record of critical thinking, high emotional intelligence, and delivering results. In addition to my professional passion for advancing health care, I have a personal passion in advancing higher education, contributing forward and investing in a brighter future. As a life and career coach, I love helping others reach their breakthrough moments and achieve their purpose.

Current professional title and organization:
Senior Project Manager, Kaiser Permanente
 
UCI graduate degree program and final degree completed:
MBA
 
Professional Path:
Consulting and project management focus in the healthcare industry working on a wide variety of strategy, innovation and performance improvement projects. Started a life and career coaching business.
 
Hobbies/activities you enjoy outside of your professional life:
Yoga, biking/spin, traveling

Juan Calcagno

Mentor

PHD in Applied Economics Field, Columbia University (2007). Fifteen years in financial services including 7 years in consulting (KPMG, Moody’s). Check LinkedIn profile.

Current professional title and organization:
MUFG Union Bank
 
Graduate degree program and final degree completed:
Columbia University PhD
 
Professional Path:
Worked on different areas, including academia, public policy, private sector, until I found my path. Tried different cities and well as companies.
 
Hobbies/activities you enjoy outside of your professional life:
Originally from Argentina, lived in NY, Philadelphia before California. Interested in Latinx community. Married with 2 kids (13 and 10 years old). Avid runner, including local 5K races. Board member of Alzheimer Association – LA area – involved in volunteering and fundraising. Sports fan, especially soccer.

Jaime Duarte

Mentor

Jaime is the co-founder and CEO of MyoSwiss AG, a spin-off from ETH Zurich (Zurich, Switzerland) founded in 2017. MyoSwiss develops and commercializes wearable robotic devices that support people with mobility impairments. Jaime holds PhD and MSc degrees in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from the University of California, Irvine (UCI). Following his doctorate, Jaime joined the Sensory-Motor Systems lab at ETH Zurich as a postdoctoral researcher where he worked until founding his company.

Current professional title and organization:
CEO, MyoSwiss AG
 
UCI graduate degree program and final degree completed:
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, PhD
 
Professional Path:
Following UCI, I moved to Switzerland to work as a postdoctoral researcher in the Sensor-Motor Systems lab at ETH Zurich. After a couple of years as a postdoc, I then founded a company in the field of exoskeletons and human augmentation.
 
Hobbies/activities you enjoy outside of your professional life:
I am a very active person, currently doing a lot of cycling, crossfit, and running. I also enjoy latin dancing and reading.

Feliza I. Ortiz-Licon

Mentor

The proud daughter of Mexican immigrant parents, Dr. Feliza I. Ortiz-Licon has invested nearly twenty-five years in the field of education working in various capacities, but primarily focused on issues of diversity, access, and equity, specifically as it relates to Latino students and English learners.

A committed champion of equitable education and opportunities for all students, Feliza currently serves as Chief Policy and Advocacy Officer at Latinos for Education. In this role, Feliza leads the organization’s policymaking and advocacy efforts to create equitable, educational opportunities for Latino students. This current position truly enhances her passion in reshaping the narrative and opportunities afforded to Latinos as well as advancing Latino leadership and proposing responsive policy recommendations that improve educational outcomes. Prior to joining Latinos for Education, Feliza served as the Principal of Education Programs at UnidosUS (formerly National Council of La Raza), the largest national Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States.

Feliza holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Los Angeles in Political Science, a master’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley in City and Regional Planning, and a doctoral degree in Education Leadership from the University of California, Irvine. In 2015, Governor Jerry Brown appointed Feliza to the CA State Board of Education where she served for five fulfilling years. Feliza is happily married to a seasoned educator in the Long Beach Unified School District, and they have two children attending a dual language program in the same district.

Current professional title and organization:
Chief Policy and Advocacy Officer, Latinos for Education
 
UCI graduate degree program and final degree completed:
Education, Ed.D.
 
Professional Path:
My passion and commitment to the field of education has paved the way to national work in the policy and advocacy space. I believe that policy is a prime vehicle to institutionalize equity-focused efforts aimed at removing barriers for underrepresented students, including students of color, low-income students, immigrants and Emergent Bilinguals.
 
Hobbies/activities you enjoy outside of your professional life:
Policy is my love language, but I enjoy music, family time, fashion and immersing myself in cultural experiences.

Lamar Blackwell

Mentor

Lamar completed his PhD at the University of California Irvine in Biological Sciences. He completed his postdoc work at Cedars Sinai Medical Center, where he studied signal transduction pathways. There, he used organ specific mouse knockout models of angiotensin converting enzyme, to understand aberrant cellular communication associated with blood pressure and inflammation. Following his postdoc at Cedars Sinai Medical center, he started his professional career as a scientist at Janssen R&D where he developed assays to determine the best antibodies to move forward for clinical trials. Lamar moved to the Consumer section and worked as Principal Scientist and an R&D global lead in the Baby franchise. Currently he works in R&D on the scientific engagement team to help represent the professional voice to J&J Consumer R&D teams and to share R&D insights with health care professionals to improve human health.

Current professional title and organization:
Principal Scientist
 
UCI graduate degree program and final degree completed:
Biological Sciences, PhD
 
Professional Path:
I completed a postdoc at Cedars Sinai Medical Center and then became a research scientist and Janssen. Now I work in medical affairs for Johnson and Johnson. My job is communicate our research to the dermatology professional community
 
Hobbies/activities you enjoy outside of your professional life:
I like to exercise, enjoy movies especially Marvel. I can dance salsa and I am learning batachata.

Gabriel Vargas

Mentor

Dr. Gabriel Vargas obtained his undergraduate degree with honors from the University of California, Berkeley where he majored in Anthropology & Genetics. He received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of California, Irvine followed by a research track residency in Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

After a clinical and research fellowship, he joined the faculty at UCSF as an assistant professor in the Psychiatry Department where he spent three years leading a research group. After leaving academia in 2006, he spent five years at Roche, the last three in Basel, Switzerland as the head of the Neuroscience Clinical Biomarker Group where he worked on molecular and digital biomarkers.

Dr. Vargas joined Amgen in 2011 and directed a group of physician scientists as the Therapeutic Area Head for Early Development Neuroscience. In this capacity, he led the early development of the recently FDA-approved migraine prophylactic, Aimovig™. He also directed Digital Health activities for Medical Sciences and co-led Amgen’s Clinical Technology & Experience Lab and where he conducted several digital health studies to test wearable sensors and devices and patient engagement technologies.

In 2018 he joined CuraSen, a biopharma startup developing small molecule agents for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders, as Chief Medical Officer.

Dr. Vargas is a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, and currently serves as a volunteer clinical instructor for the UCSF/UC Berkeley Joint Medical Program and as a volunteer associate clinical professor in psychiatry at UCSF.

Current professional title and organization:
Chief Medical Officer at CuraSen Therapeutics
 
UCI graduate degree program and final degree completed:
MSTP 1988
 
Professional Path:
I went into a research track residency program at UCSF then became junior faculty there. I later joined industry about 15 years ago to work on drug development for neurology and psychiatry.
 
Hobbies/activities you enjoy outside of your professional life:
I enjoy reading, movies, soccer, tennis and chess.

Julius Edson

Mentor

I have Ph.D. and Masters degrees from UC Irvine in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering and a Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering from City University of New York City College. I was formerly Co-Founder and CEO of Responsive Polymers Therapeutics, Inc. a startup company that was commercializing technology invented during my graduate studies. I was also part of the Business Development team at Zymo Research Corporation. Currently, I am a strategic advisor for various startup companies as well as a volunteer analyst with Tech Coast Angels San Diego.

Current professional title and organization:
BD & Strategy Professional
 
UCI graduate degree program and final degree completed:
Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Ph.D.
 
Professional Path:
From entrepreneurship to business development in the biotech space.
 
Hobbies/activities you enjoy outside of your professional life:
I enjoy traveling, cycling, woodworking, gaming, and spending time with my family.

Desirée Salazar

Mentor

Desirée Salazar, Ph.D. is the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Coordinator for Extramural Programs at the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI). Dr. Salazar provides leadership in DEI activities across NHLBI and manages a variety of programs including Diversity and Re-Entry Supplements, MOSAIC K99/R00 Postdoctoral Career Transition Awards to Promote Diversity, and the capacity building Support for Research Excellence (SuRE) and SuRE First Award programs.

Before joining NHLBI, Dr. Salazar was a program director at the National Institute for General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) within the Division of Training, Workforce Development, and Diversity, where she managed a variety of training programs from the undergraduate to postdoctoral level. She managed research grants in the Division of Genetics and Molecular and Developmental Biology in stem cell biology and regeneration. Additionally, Dr. Salazar was the Director of the NIGMS intramural Postdoctoral Research Associate Training program.

Prior to joining NIGMS in 2016, Dr. Salazar was a Scientific Program Manager at the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB). Dr. Salazar earned a B.S. in Neuroscience from UC Los Angeles and a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from UC Irvine. She conducted postdoctoral studies at UC San Diego as part of the NIH funded IRACDA program.

Current professional title and organization:
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Coordinator for Extramural Programs National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/National Institutes of Health

 
UCI graduate degree program and final degree completed:
Biological Sciences, PhD
 
Professional Path:
I continued onto postdoctoral research after my PhD and during my postdoc decided to pursue an administrative role that would enable me to focus on promoting career development and diversity within biomedical research. I have pursued those goals working in positions at UC San Diego, the American Society for Cell Biology and now at the NIH. I really enjoy contributing to biomedical research, career development, and diversity, equity, and inclusion as a public servant at the NIH.
 
Hobbies/activities you enjoy outside of your professional life:
I enjoy running and completing half marathons. I love spending time with my husband and two young sons. I enjoy being outdoors in the sunshine when possible.

Kandarp Shah

Mentor

I am a regulatory affairs professional with a track record of partnering across business functions, defining regulatory strategy and executing worldwide product registration for commercialization of medical products. I have experience with US, EU and international registrations for permanent implant and IVD products. I also have over 10 years of progressive experience in molecular and cellular biology, immunology, cardiovascular disease, and tissue-based diagnoses in research laboratories. I have demonstrated excellent ability to organize and communicate technical concepts to stakeholders while guiding and training junior staff. I actively participate in service of the industry through memberships, presentations and publications.

Current professional title and organization:
Manager, Regulatory Affairs

UCI graduate degree program and final degree completed:

Biological Sciences, PhD
 
Professional Path:
I pursued a postdoctoral fellowship after my degree at UCI. In parallel, I also looked for opportunities to develop my regulatory skillset. I transitioned to a regulatory affairs position in medical devices after the postdoctoral experience.
 
Hobbies/activities you enjoy outside of your professional life:
I enjoy a mix of everything from photography, reading, hiking and playing sports in the company of friends.

Santiago Guisasola

Mentor

Dr. Guisasola received his Ph.D. in mathematical behavioral sciences from the University of California, Irvine in 2018. He is a game theorist who specializes in mathematically modeling social and behavioral phenomena, with experience using accompanying computational tools. He finished his post doctoral research position at the Instituto de Matematica Pura e Aplicada in Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil in late 2020 and now works as lead researcher at Intelligent Analytics and Modeling.

Current professional title and organization:
Lead Researcher at Intelligent Analytics and Modeling

UCI graduate degree program and final degree completed:
Mathematical Behavioral Sciences (Social Sciences), PhD
 
Professional Path:
After finishing my PhD + postdoc I was open to either staying in academia or trying out industry. I accepted the first good offer I received. It’s exciting to work at an economics + social sciences think tank with other PhDs because we do research that bridges academia and industry.
 
Hobbies/activities you enjoy outside of your professional life:
My biggest hobbies are playing the guitar, riding bikes, chess, and playing basketball (though I haven’t played so much lately because of the pandemic!)

John Huang

Mentor

John Huang is an Associate Director and Site Executive at Raytheon Technologies located in Fullerton, CA. John’s domain expertise range from large scale DoD development programs to commercial startup in providing C5I solutions, GPS Navigation Landing Systems, Radar mission applications and Identify Management products. John is experienced in full life cycle engineering development from safety critical, embedded, and hard real time systems to open data centric applications. He held position in Software Program Manager, Proposal Lead, Software Technical Director and System Integration Lead.

John holds a B. S. in Information and Computer Science from University of California, Irvine. His professional certifications include Software Architect Certification, System Engineering Technical Development Program and Software Program Management.

Current professional title and organization:
Associate Software Director, Site Executive at Raytheon Technologies

UCI graduate degree program and final degree completed:
Information and Computer Science, BS

Professional Path:
My professional path have been in all facets of software engineering. From requirements, architecture, development, test, new business growth and leadership.

Hobbies/activities you enjoy outside of your professional life:
Family, Golf, Tennis, Lakers

Ram Hariharan

Mentor

Dr. Hariharan is currently working as a Lead Data Scientist at Microsoft Corporation. He has worked in many leading technology companies in capacities as scientist, engineer, leader, and mentor. In these roles he always strives for technical, product, people, and organizational excellence. He has many years of applied research experience using machine learning, statistics, databases, and data mining in application domains such as search, advertising, digital customer service, e-commerce retail, and business apps. He has published many technical papers in reputed computer science conferences, has been issued 4 US patents, and serves as reviewer in many International and Industry held ML and AI conferences. He holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of California, Irvine.

Current professional title and organization:
Microsoft

UCI graduate degree program and final degree completed:
Computer Science, PhD

Professional Path:
Started my career as Scientist at AT&T working on search technologies for 4 years. Then joined Microsoft continuing the applied scientist career, but also getting shaped as a good engineer, working on domains such as Advertising and Customer Service. Then jumped company again to Amazon and this time working in the e-commerce retail. Came back to Microsoft and ever since working in developing AI solutions for many different Business Applications.

Hobbies/activities you enjoy outside of your professional life:
Volunteering as leader in many professional organizations, reading especially eastern philosophies, practicing Yoga for physical and mental well-being.

Michelle Tabb​ Photo

Michelle Tabb

Mentor

Following my postdoc at UCI, I joined Focus Diagnostics R&D in 2005 at the start of their commercial molecular diagnostic product line. Since then I’ve held additional roles within R&D, Project Management and Operations. The company was acquired by Quest Diagnostics in 2006 and then DiaSorin SpA in 2016, an Italian multinational biotechnology company that produces and markets in vitro diagnostic reagent kits used in immuno and molecular diagnostics. The company was renamed DiaSorin Molecular in 2016 and I serve as Chief Scientific Officer.

Current professional title and organization:
Chief Scientific Officer, DiaSorin Molecular

UCI graduate degree program and final degree completed:
PhD in Biological Sciences. Worked in both Depts of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics and Biological Chemistry. Also did postdoc at UCI in Dept of Developmental & Cell Biology

Professional Path:
After my PhD, I remained at UCI to complete my postdoctoral studies, deliberately switching from basic science to the study of a human nuclear receptor that was activated by clinically used drugs since I wanted to work in biotech or pharma. After a 5 year postdoc, I left academia to join biotech where my skills in molecular biology and project management were critical to completing assay development for infectious disease targets. My initial goal was to reach the role of Director of Research & Development and I was able to achieve that in 5 years after completing my postdoc.

Hobbies/activities you enjoy outside of your professional life:
Dodgers baseball fan, high school football and baseball fan, interested in ancestry, enjoy board and card games as well as fitness and global travel.

Carlos Solorzano

Mentor

Carlos Solórzano, PhD is a Senior Principal at Section 32. Carlos has more than a decade of experience in healthcare spanning academic research, investment banking, corporate strategy and BD as well as venture capital prior to joining Section 32. At Section 32, Carlos focuses on the firm’s investment sourcing, diligence, and deal execution efforts primarily in healthcare.

Prior to Section 32, Carlos was a Senior Associate at Pivotal bioVenture Partners where he participated in nine investments into therapeutics companies across various stages of development and financing in various therapeutic areas. During his tenure at Pivotal, Carlos was an observer on the board or led diligence for Akouos (NASDAQ: AKUS), Avalyn, Evommune, Plexium and Arkuda.

Carlos previously was an Associate Director in the corporate strategy and business development team at Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical where he worked on competitive intelligence, as well as portfolio, commercial and BD strategy. In particular, Carlos participated in Ultragenyx’ option to acquire GeneTx (ASO for Angelman Syndrome), the expansion of Ultragenyx’ collaboration agreement with Arcturus Therapeutics (nucleic acid therapeutics including mRNA), as well as in the technology and portfolio strategy of Ultragenyx’ gene therapy platform.

Prior to Ultragenyx, Carlos worked as an equity research associate at Deutsche Bank and Oppenheimer & Co. covering smid- and large-cap biotech companies. Carlos has a BS in Chemical Engineering from Cal Poly Pomona, earned a PhD in Pharmacology from UC Irvine, and was an NIH postdoctoral scholar at UC San Francisco where he investigated the neurobiology of pain and itch.

Current professional title and organization:
Sr principal, Section 32

UCI graduate degree program and final degree completed:
PhD in Pharmacology and Toxicology (class of 2010)

Professional Path:
I obtained my PhD in Pharmacology with the goal of becoming a scientist in the pharmaceutical industry in order to help develop new drugs. During my postdoc, I figured out that I preferred to be involved as a business executive in the biotech industry rather than being a bench scientist and that my training actually also enabled me to do that with some minor additional self education. I am now a venture capital investor where I help finance some of the most innovative companies in the industry and so actually do help advance medicines to patients by making sure they are properly resourced.

Hobbies/activities you enjoy outside of your professional life:
I like to spend time with my family, primarily going to parks with my two kids. When I get a chance I also enjoy going on runs outside and catching up with old friends.

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