Graduate Affiliates

Alev Baysoy is a second year PhD student in Biomedical Engineering interested in developing and implementing single-cell resolution profiling technologies to investigate therapeutic response in disease models using techniques such as CRISPR editing and spatial multi-omics. She graduated from Princeton in 2018 and majored in Chemical and Biological Engineering. Alev is half Turkish and is from St.Paul, Minnesota. She loves to play hockey, soccer, ski, and participate in all types of sports. She is happy to talk to anyone considering a PhD program, and talk to anyone who may be thinking about taking some time after graduating before beginning graduate school. She can be reached at Alev.baysoy@yale.edu

Kaiqi Bao Bao is a third-year Law School Student. She graduated from Rice University where she studied mathematical economic analysis and political science. Kaiqi is happy to discuss law school applications, law school life, and everything else.

Tong Cheng is a Ph.D. student in Computer Science, specializing in programming language theory and operating systems. Before starting at Yale, he did his undergraduate degree at HUST in Wuhan, China, where he explored ways combining engineering practice with theoretical foundations in computer systems research, and he views computer science as an exciting amalgam of engineering, mathematics, and philosophy. He is happy to talk about any field of computer science, as well as art, traveling, photography, classical/jazz/minimal music, piano playing, and anything else on your mind. Please feel free to email him at tong.cheng@yale.edu

Jacquelyn Davila is a Ph.D. student in the Department of History. Her work engages with the experiences of Indigenous and Hispanic farmers and seeks to address pressing issues of water scarcity and food sovereignty in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. Jacquelyn studied History at Princeton University and earned minors in Latino Studies, Latin American Studies, and Translation. 

In her free time, she enjoys hiking, photography, rom-coms, nail art, and (sometimes) cooking. She looks forward to unleashing her big sister energy on the BCF undergrad community and is happy to chat about FGLI experiences, studying/living abroad, balancing health and academics, or anything else Yale might throw at you!

Archie Enninful is a Ph.D. student in Biomedical Engineering whose research involves applying spatial multi-omics technologies to study the microenvironment of lymph nodes. As a graduate student in the Fan Lab, his work also includes mapping senescent cells in lymphoid tissues as part of the NIH’s Cellular Senescence Network (SenNet) Consortium. He was also an undergraduate at Yale (Benjamin Franklin, 2020) and majored in Biomedical Engineering. In his spare time, he enjoys cooking, and playing FIFA, and is a big fan of Liverpool FC. As a GA for Benjamin Franklin, Archie is happy to answer questions about pursuing research opportunities as an undergrad and applying to MD and PhD programs. Please feel free to reach him at: archibald.enninful@yale.edu

Ian French is pursuing a Master of Environmental Management (MEM) degree at the School of the Environment, with a specialization focused on strategies for building urban coastal resilience. Born and raised in Orange County, California, Ian moved to Singapore for undergrad and completed his Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies at Yale-NUS College. During his four years there, he swam, traveled, got scuba-certified, took a lot of excellent public transit, and reveled in the close-knit community of his residential college. He was lucky enough to visit Yale for a semester abroad in 2021 and was especially fortunate to be a Franklinite that fall. He is thrilled to be back in New Haven for the year, and he’s happy to talk about the MEM5 program, queer resources at Yale, spicy food, local hikes, and all things beach. Feel free to reach out at ian.french@yale.edu.

Alexis Aitana Godoy is a second year MPH (Master Public Health) student in the department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases. Alexis spent this past summer interning for a permanent mission to the United Nations in New York City. Before coming to Yale, Alexis completed her undergraduate degree at the George Washington University where she studied biological anthropology, biology, and art history, and helped to research and publish a paper examining food insecurity, depression, and anxiety in Puerto Rico resulting from COVID19. Alexis is from Miami, Florida, has lived in both the US and Spain, and speaks English, Spanish and French. Alexis discovered her passion to help to create programs to improve the health conditions and global responses to future pandemics in developing countries after spending a summer trekking through desert, jungle, mountains, and rivers of Morocco. She is happy to talk about topics such as global health, anthropology, art, traveling, food, planning your life steps, or anything else of interest. Reach out to Alexis at alexis.godoy@yale.edu

Medha Goyal is a Ph.D. student studying robotic systems made of soft materials in the Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science department at Yale. In her spare time, she enjoys swing dancing, climbing, and reading fiction. As an ethnically Indian woman born and raised in Hong Kong, Medha thinks a lot about how to create a sense of belonging and community among those who, like her, are ‘conceptual orphans’ (source of phrase: author Sanjena Sathian), or ‘multiply situated’ (source: artist Christina Quarles); and is happy to chat about this or any of the previous topics either in person or via email (medha.goyal@yale.edu).

John Lazarsfeld is a Ph.D. student in Computer Science interested in algorithms, optimization, and the intersection of computer science and the social sciences. He was also an undergraduate at Yale (Silliman, 2017) where he studied economic sociology, traveled abroad to China, and played on the lacrosse team. John is happy to discuss interdisciplinary research, life at Yale, and everything else. He can be reached at  john.lazarsfeld@yale.edu

Jane Lee is a Ph.D. student in the Computer Science department studying theoretical foundations of machine learning. She is also a GFSD Fellow, sponsored by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA). Before coming to Yale she worked at Twitter as a machine learning engineer, and prior to that she studied math, computer science, and statistics at UPenn. Outside of school and research, she enjoys helping others, being involved in the Graduate Student Assembly (GSA) as the Service Committee Chair, Graduate Student Advisory Committee (GSAC) for her department, Women in Science at Yale (WISAY), and volunteering with STEM Mentors at Yale. She also volunteers every week at the local Achievement First High School on Dixwell through Microsoft TEALS. She hopes as a Graduate Affiliate that she can offer its residents career/school advice (e.g., interviewing for internships/full-time, applying to graduate school), new events to enjoy, or just someone to talk to. She can be reached at jane.h.lee@yale.edu.

Linda Lin is a MD-PhD student interested in pediatrics and computational genomics, and particularly how we can better represent, understand, and learn from human genetic diversity. She graduated from Swarthmore College with high honors in Biochemistry & Computer Science and is a proud QuestBridge alum. Prior to deciding on her graduate research field, she explored research in synthetic organometallic chemistry, experimental/structural biochemistry & biophysics, and therapeutic gene editing & computational tool development. Currently, she co-leads the Yale School of Medicine’s first-generation & low-income student group (YFLI) and the MD-PhD program’s student perspectives on identity, diversity, and equity at Yale (SPIDEY) mentorship program. Linda loves to dance (in many different styles, especially those from around the world!), including with the Yale Modern Dance Collective and Yale Dance Lab. Please feel free to reach out at linda.yq.lin@yale.edu!

Christopher Lindsay is a fourth year PhD candidate and Gruber Science Fellow at the Yale Astronomy department, working with Sarbani Basu. As the chair of the GSA, he is excited to advocate on behalf of Yale graduate students, working towards improving academic and professional outcomes, reducing food insecurity, increasing transportation options, and enhancing mental health facilities at Yale. He received my M.S. and M.Phil from the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in 2022, and he graduated in 2020 from the University of Southern California with degrees in Astronomy, Environmental Studies, and Jazz Studies. Research-wise, he isprimarily interested in stellar astrophysics, using asteroseismology to study interior mixing and angular momentum transport processes in evolved stars.

Tiffany Li is a third-year JD student at the law school. Originally from New Jersey, she graduated from Columbia University with a major in biomedical engineering and worked in life sciences consulting before law school. If you are considering law school, studying engineering, interested in health and the life sciences, or would like to talk about anything else on your mind, feel free to email her at tiffany.li.tl678@yale.edu.

Mitchell Rogers  is a Ph.D. student in Environmental Engineering studying the sources and transport of urban air pollution. He grew up in Irvine, California and went to UCLA for college where he majored in Chemical Engineering with a minor in Environmental Systems and Society. When not in the lab or doing field work, he might be playing percussion, attempting to cook something new, or enjoying a board game night. He’s always up for chatting about any music, food, podcasts, the environment, or anything else! You can contact Mitchell at m.rogers@yale.edu.

Roman Sanchez (he/him) is a 2^nd year Theatre Manager in the David Geffen School of Drama. Originally from California, he’s a producer, director, and educator who has worked in the performing arts throughout the country, notably with Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Dell’Arte International, Lime Arts Productions, CA State Summer School for the Arts and the International Thespians Festival. Outside of the performing arts, he enjoys football, aquariums, and movies. @romansanchez001 

Mikayla Stanley is a second-year MFA candidate in Theater Management at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale. Before Yale, Mikayla founded Hit the Lights!, an award-winning multi-media theater company in New York City where she partnered with organizations such as Ars Nova (where they were company in-residence), the New Ohio Theatre, the New York City Botanical Garden, Gimlet Media, New Victory Theater, and their work has been seen on the cover of Vogue Magazine. Mikayla is an arts educator, and has taught at CCM, NYU and Williams College. She also spent ten years in retail leadership with lululemon, serving as a training specialist, new store opening manager and led the global flagship location in New York City. She graduated magna cum laude from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music with a BFA in Dramatic Performance, where she also holds the 2022 Julie Winter Cohen Career Excellence Award. 

Yingqi “Ariel” Tang is a current PhD student in political theory. Hailing from Shanghai, she finds Chinatown to be the most exotic place in New York City. Her research features childhood and education as themes in intellectual history. In particular, she asks how children turn into citizens under different regimes. A former philosophy major at Barnard College, Yingqi is fond of Platonic dialogues, Greek plays, and plants. She occasionally serves as a translator. Her passion for learning languages and travelling took her to Athens, Berlin, and Paris before landing her in New Haven. If you are considering studying humanities, social sciences, or aboard, and if you wonder what college education is for, Yingqi will be happy to chat. Write to yingqi.tang@yale.edu! 

Ruitu (Chris) Xu is a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Statistics and Data Science. He was originally from Beijing, China, and received his bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Computer Science at Courant Institute, NYU. Working on deep learning and reinforcement learning, he leverages machine learning models to tackle challenging problems in neuroscience, economics, etc. He is happy to answer questions related to statistics, tech companies, and perhaps quantitative trading. He also loves hiking, cooking, and all sorts of technological innovations, from SpaceX rockets to AI-powered image generators. Definitely reach out to him if you share the same interest!

Shuhan Zhang is currently a fourth year PhD student in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at Yale University. Her research explores mechanical properties of bulk metallic glass using nanoindentation techniques. She is from Shenyang, China, and went to Washington University in Saint Louis for college. She enjoys travelling, swimming, hiking, and cooking Chinese food. She is happy to talk about STEM, graduate school application, anything related to academic/career. Contact her at shuhan.zhang@yale.edu