President/Chair: Kaveri is a PhD Candidate and NSF Fellow in Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University developing intelligent systems to detect diseases from medical images. Prior to this, she was a member of the Earthquake Early Warning Team at Caltech. She earned her B.S. Honors in Chemistry from Stanford University, her M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Southern California, and was a recipient of the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship in computational chemistry at Caltech. Her research interests include capturing human vision and human decision-making attributes in intelligent systems. Currently, her work focuses on developing accurate and interpretable deep learning models to detect eye disease from Optical Coherence Tomography images of the retina. Her favorite hobbies include playing her clarinet, watching movies, and baking pumpkin walnut chocolate chip cookies.
Vice-President/Vice-Chair of Graduate Activities: Erfan is a RISE Prize Fellow and Ph.D. student at the Biomedical Engineering Department and Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute at Columbia University. Erfan dedicates his research to answering a fundamental question in neuroscience: how do different brain areas coordinate their activities to support complex behaviors? To this end, he is working on high-resolution measurements of cortical traveling waves for reinforcement learning and decision-making. Prior to joining Columbia, he was a research assistant at the School of Cognitive Sciences of IPM Institute For Research In Fundamental Sciences in Tehran. He was also the recipient of the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship in computational neuroscience at SUNY College of Optometry. He received his BSc with a major in Electrical Engineering and two minors in Physics and Mathematics from the Sharif University of Technology. Erfan is passionate about Physics and enjoys teaching it. An International Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad medalist himself, he went coaching high school students during his university years. During his free time, he plays soccer(midfielder) and performs Tar, a traditional Persian instrument.
Secretary: Emma Glajchen is a Junior in SEAS from Westchester, NY studying biomedical engineering. Outside of IEEE EMBS, Emma has conducted research in the field of polarized noble gas imaging to study Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, she is an ESC student mentor, she is the alumnae chair of Sigma Delta Tau, and she was an orientation leader this fall. In her spare time, Emma enjoys running in Riverside Park and (in pre-Covid times) going to concerts around NYC.
Treasurer: Nikita is a senior studying Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University. Before Columbia, Nikita attended Clark University, where he majored in Chemistry and worked as a departmental tutor and Undergraduate Admissions Office representative. He was also actively involved in the Undergraduate Student Council work. Nikita’s passions include transforming healthcare through novel methodologies and interdepartmental projects at the intersection of multiple fields that he hopes to promote at Columbia through the CU IEEE EMBS chapter. During his free time, Nikita enjoys riding a horse as a member of Columbia University Equestrian Team, reading books, attending a plethora of museums in NYC, and cooking.
Co-Vice President of Undergraduate Activities: Katherine is an undergraduate senior in Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University. She is a research intern at Zuckerman Institute, and her research interests include optimizing algorithms for signal processing in focused ultrasound experiments, as well as using deep learning packages for animal pose estimations during decision-making experiments. Outside of classes, she is the current VP of Student Life in the Engineering Student Council. During free times, she likes to do yoga, watch Netflix, play tennis, and play switch (big Zelda and Animal Crossing fan).
Website Designer: Adi Shastry is a Biomedical Engineering Student at Columbia University and is interested in medical devices, robotics, cybersecurity, and entrepreneurship. During his study at Colby College, he started various clubs including Colby Cyber Cybersecurity Club and the Colby Consulting Group. His life passion is to advance social causes in more meaningful ways using new frontiers of technology. In his spare time, he is usually learning something new, playing an instrument, relaxing with friends and family, watching a good movie or Formula 1, reading, or tinkering with electronics or code.
Co-Vice President of Undergraduate Activities: Kyla is an undergraduate senior studying Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University. She is a research assistant at Columbia and has worked as a research intern at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh where she researched mechanisms involved in the development and differentiation of cardiac cells. She also serves as a member of the National Society of Black Engineers and President of United Against Inequities in Disease. In her free time, she enjoys exploring the city, watching horror movies, and biking.