Meet the YMA!
Advisory Board
Dr. Daniel Abrams
Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University
Dr. Corinna Zygourakis
Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at the Stanford University Medical Center
Dr. John Kugler
Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at Stanford University
Dr. Abrams conducts research investigating the brain bases of social communication impairments in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). His research employs a combination of psychophysical, cognitive, and brain imaging techniques, with the goal of identifying key neural features underlying social deficits in children with ASD. See more information here.
Dr. Zygourakis specializes in comprehensive surgical care of the adult spine, and focuses on the treatment of complex spinal disorders, including spinal deformity, revision surgery, and spinal tumors. See more information here.
Dr. Kugler's focus is on medical education and he leads the Internal Medicine Clerkship as well as serving as an Educator 4 Care. His research interests focus on clinical examination and the use of Point-of-Care Ultrasound technology to improve bedside diagnosis. See more information here.
Our High School Members
Designed by Aanya Mathias (aanya.mathias@gmail.com)
Aanya Mathias
Social Media Director
I'm Aanya, a senior at LAHS. My interest in healthcare comes from my experience in supporting my community and making people feel and get better. I have over 3 years, and 100+ hours volunteering at my local Veterans Affairs hospital. I won the outstanding volunteer award and worked across several departments including pathology, and patient services. Attended Stanford University over the summer to study Microbiology (A+). Looking to go to college to study biology, and pre-med.
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Lauren Matsuda
Meeting Planning Director
Lauren is a senior at Sacred Heart Schools - Atherton. She has been deeply rooted in her school community through golf and leading and participating in various clubs/programs since freshman year. Outside of school, she does taekwondo and is an operations member of Team-M Taekwondo. She has always been interested in the medical field from physical therapy to surgical procedures. She hopes to be a cardiology surgeon or physician. She looks forward to being a part of the YMA leadership team this year!
Elodie Tam
Marketing and Outreach Director
My name is Elodie Tam and i’m in 12th grade at Menlo School. I’ve been interested in medicine, specifically biomedical engineering, because it applies engineering to solve larger problems in the medical field. YMA is a great place to learn about different careers in medicine and how people have tacked issues in biology and medicine.
Isabel Jiang
Head of Communications
I’m Isabel, a senior at Crystal Springs Uplands. I’ve always been fascinated by medicine and science (especially orthopedics and pharmacology), leading me to become a president of my school’s STEM Invention Studio, cofounder of Crystal's STEM Symposium, and co-CEO of a nonprofit tutoring organization in which I coordinate STEM electives and medical case study classes.
Neil Gopalan
Associate Social Media Director
Neil Gopalan is a senior at Los Altos High School. He has always been interested in the fields of engineering and medicine. Some of his interests are playing sports such as tennis and basketball, and coding. He is looking forward to the upcoming years in the YMA.
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Angelina Choy
Marketing and Outreach Director
I'm Angelina, a senior at Crystal Springs Uplands passionate about medicine, data science, business, and arts. I am the president and founder of the STEM Invention Studio and co-chair the annual Crystal STEM Symposium. I look to pursue a degree in statistics and neuroscience!
Giselle Lopez
Social Media Liaison
Hi! I’m Giselle and I’m a senior at Priory. I’m a Social Media Liaison for YMA. Some of my interests and hobbies are reading, listening to music, science, learning history, playing softball with my family, and spending time with my friends. I’m looking forward to this year, especially regarding what we’ll be doing in YMA.
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Nyla Sharma
Meeting Planning Liaison
I’m Nyla and I am a senior at Menlo School. I joined YMA because I’m interested in medicine and wanted a place where I could immerse myself in the subject beyond the classroom. I am also a competitive water polo player, and run the Body Positivity Alliance club at my high school!
Jake Gipstein
Meeting Planning Liaison
Jake Gipstein is a senior at Branham High School. He is a Meeting Planning Liaison for the Youth Medical Association this year. He is interested in medicine because there is so much that we have yet to learn that can help so many people.
Leah Nelson
Graduated Member
Leah is a current senior at Woodside Priory School and is the Meeting Planning Director of YMA this year. She is planning on pursuing biomedical engineering with a premed track in college. Outside of school, she spends her time playing soccer and participating in a variety of clubs.