Meet the Team
Natasha
Matta
Co-Founder
Chief Executive Director
Natasha Matta (she/her), a junior from the Bay Area, co-founded headstartSTEM with Giwoo to make information about the different careers in STEM more accessible to high school students and introduce them to opportunities to get involved in research and STEM at their age. With high school students gearing up to apply to college and decide on a major, it is vital to expose them to the paths they can go down if they want to pursue STEM and provide resources to explore these different fields of study before college.
Natasha is interested in studying food allergy immunology, biomedical engineering, the intersections of neuroscience, psychology and law, and criminology. This summer, she interned in cognitive neuroscience and psychopathology and wrote a 23-page research paper proposing a novel network approach to understanding adolescent BPD and its connections to ODD and ADHD in childhood, and she is continuing her research this school year, visualizing psychological networks computationally using R. Over the past three summers, she has studied genetics, bioinformatics (where she met Giwoo!), stem cell biology and regenerative medicine, and python and data science, and over the past three years, she has pursued two independent research projects: one modeling the effects of chelated metal ions on catalase enzyme activity to evaluate the efficacy of chelation therapy as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease and another aimed at synthesizing an organic pesticide that combats bacterial blight on mulberry leaves without adverse effects on silkworm health and silk quality. Natasha also serves as a Student Executive for the Bay Area Youth Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience, Co-President of Biotechnology Club, Neurodiversity Committee member, Digital Marketing Director for Coding for Impact and Tech+Me, Event Board Director for The Synapse Project, Outreach and Recruitment Fellow for Encode Justice, and Biology and Medicine Junior Editor for the Young Scientist’s Journal. Outside of STEM, Natasha also enjoys hurdling and sprinting for her school’s varsity track and field team, writing and editing for a number of youth advocacy organizations like GenZ Writes and SHEDIDTHAT!, running Rediscover STEAM (an online publication that sheds light on the stories of underrepresented women in the STEAM fields and empowers the next generation of young women), and traveling the world.
Giwoo Kim (she/her), a senior in the southern San Francisco Bay Area, co-founded headstartSTEM with Natasha to address and increase transparency of the types of careers, paths, and opportunities in STEM to high school students. She serves as the Chief Executive Director and Director of Graphic Design, overseeing all parts of headstartSTEM with Natasha and leading graphic design projects and tasks across headstartSTEM’s many platforms.
Giwoo is on track to pursue behavioral sciences in college, studying cognitive and social psychology. She has several biological research programs and experiences under her belt, along with her current opportunities in neuroscience and psychology. She is also a firm believer in taking action to implement the changes deemed necessary or relevant, often pursuing opportunities in which she can do just that. Hence, Giwoo is extremely active on her school campus, participating in her school's student government, leading clubs like French Honor Society, golfing and swimming for her school’s varsity teams, and serving as co-captain for the Varsity Swim Team. Now aside from all of these academic and school activities, she enjoys binging movies and classic TV shows from time to time, but you can most often find her doing a bunch of outdoor sports like swimming, surfing, and hiking (especially during this time!).
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Giwoo
Kim
Co-Founder
Chief Executive Director
Joyce
Chen
Joyce Chen (she/her) is a junior at JP Stevens High School in New Jersey. She is generally interested in anything related to biological sciences and passionate about learning about genetics, cell theory, and evolution. Seeing all of the amazing things that medical professionals do really inspires her to pursue STEM and hopefully go into the medical field in the future. Joyce plays volleyball on her school's varsity team and on a competitive travel club team. She is also very into music and has played piano and violin since elementary school. Joyce is in her school's chamber orchestra and has played at many well-known concert halls, including Carnegie Hall. Outside all of her academics and extracurriculars, she loves drinking boba, and her favorite boba place is probably Cafe Zio. When Joyce is not studying, playing volleyball, practicing, or drinking boba, you can catch her binge-watching shows on Netflix and mindlessly scrolling through Tiktok.
Co-Director of National Outreach
Yujin Huh (she/her) is a junior at Las Lomas High School. She was born in Korea, moved to Michigan and then California as a young child, and is partially fluent in Korean. Yujin is the younger sibling in her family and lives in Walnut Creek, CA! She is passionate in STEM because of the great opportunities available for young women. Yujin enjoys learning about the fields of Technology and Engineering! She founded two clubs relating to these fields to share her passion and encourage other students as well! STEM has driven Yujin to search for her passions and create goals for herself to achieve. In addition, seeing other successful women in STEM inspires her to work hard as well!
Yujin
Huh
Co-Director of National Outreach
Melanie
Chen
Melanie Chen (she/her) is a junior at South Brunswick High School in New Jersey. She is interested in studying psychology, neuroscience, and biochemistry and is currently pursuing an internship in bio-imaging analysis of COVID-19 patients' lungs compared to other pulmonary diseases, another topic she's interested in. Melanie believes that STEM is a field where you can never finish exploring and is fascinated by how STEM pervades every part of our day to day lives. She is also planning to pursue the pre-medical track in college. Outside of STEM, Melanie enjoys playing the piano, piccolo, and flute and is part of her school's marching band. She also loves to binge-watch Netflix and wants to learn how to surf. Melanie is proud to be part of headstartSTEM's National Outreach Team and is excited to expand our national audience and spread awareness about the STEM fields, so more high school and college students will have a better understanding of their interests.
National Outreach Team
Elizabeth Wang (she/her) is a high school junior from the San Francisco Bay Area. As the Director of National Research, she leads the National Research Team, filtering through and compiling a list of STEM-based opportunities in the United States. She joined headstartSTEM because she is passionate about providing fellow STEM students the different opportunities and resources available, inspiring and encouraging them to continue working towards their passion even though previous plans might have been cancelled due to COVID-19 and making the most out of this uncertain time and beyond. Elizabeth wishes to major in Biochemistry with an interest in business, intrigued by the way different products react to the human skin along with the different skin conditions, researching with the aid of the internet and taking courses at her local community college to learn more about the fields. Aside from headstartSTEM, Elizabeth runs an organization called Essential.C.A.R.E, which aims to reinforce community mental wellness through care packages targeted towards society’s most vulnerable along with a blog @in.skin which is about skin/skincare. She also enjoys doing gymnastics and is part of her school's varsity gymnastics team.
Wang
Elizabeth
Director of National Research
Leila
Blal
Leila Blal (she/her) is a junior at Ridgeview Classical Schools in Fort Collins, Colorado. She is interested in pursuing a degree in either biology or chemistry on the pre-med track. During the summer before her sophomore year of high school, Leila helped conduct research at Colorado State University. The research involved studying the effects of cofilin-actin rods on mitochondrial morphology. Leila is fascinated with learning about novel Alzheimer's treatments, and she hopes to conduct research on other neurodegenerative diseases in the future. She is actively involved in science extracurriculars at her school, including Science Bowl, where she has been a member of the team since 2017. Aside from her academic interests, Leila enjoys running, reading, and drinking tea.
National Research Team
Shveta Sundar (she/her), a junior from Lebanon Trail High School in Frisco TX, is pursuing a future in Aeronautical Engineering and Astrophysics. Driven by high-achieving values and especially intrigued in the STEM field she serves and is part of various science and technology clubs in her school, some including Math and Physics Olympiad and Girls in STEM. Outside of school, she loves to have hobbies such as mastering difficult violin pieces, solving impossible puzzles, learning about Astronomy, and most importantly delving into the deep unknowns of our world. She also absolutely loves to travel, especially to National Parks! Fun Fact, she has visited over 40 national parks so far! Shveta has always loved indulging herself in STEM-related activities since she was a little girl. One of her favorite things to do is to look at the world through a different perspective and see the world we live in as a complex jigsaw puzzle, bound together by the complex patterns of science and technology. This concept has fascinated her throughout her life and has even further matured through the various science and technology-based classes she’s taken in high school so far. Some of her specific STEM interests are Aeronautical Engineering and Astrophysics. You can ask anyone she knows and they will say that her face lights up whenever she learns or hears something about both of these two amazing fields. Shveta feels so inclined everyday to wake up and make revolutionary differences in the world of STEM, she believes there is so much we have yet to learn and discover as human beings in this world controlled by science and innovation. We have come so far in making ground-breaking discoveries, let’s all go a step further and uncover more of the scientific mysteries that lay ahead of us. Who knows through this journey being enlightened with STEM, we are only a few great efforts away from making the wildest of our dreams into reality.
Shveta
Sundar
National Research Team
Nicole
Lau
Nicole Lau (She/Her), a junior at the Canadian International School of Hong Kong. Living in Hong Kong. Has always been interested in the concept of STEM since she was younger. However, as she grew up and was introduced to the specifics of what STEM really was, she became particularly interested in the science aspect, hence her aspirations to become a dentist. What inspires her to pursue STEM in the future is how innovative and crucial it is/has become in all of our lives. She believes the four aspects of STEM are interconnected, which has become a holistic concept. With a great passion for STEM, she hopes she will be able to help others understand the acronym better and enable others an opportunity to explore the numerous careers in the STEM field.
Director of International Outreach
Atifa Mohamed (she/her) is currently attending her junior high school in Abu Dhabi(U.A.E), member of headstartSTEM's International Outreach Team. Atifa is on track to pursue International and Global studies in college. She is extremely active in various school activities and also focuses intensely on her academics. Moreover, she has participated in various innovation competitions and also a part of the student council. Besides academics and activities, Atifa has a great interest in learning new languages and she is currently learning Korean, she has also practiced karate for four years, she loves baking and enjoys binge-watching Netflix and listening to K-pop(especially during her holidays!). Atifa strongly believes that giving girls exposure to opportunities in STEM can empower them to pursue it and faster interest from a young age. She hopes to empower students to seek a future in these growing fields. Moreover, she has also been a part of various STEM organizations and hopes to work with more organizations in the future.
Mohamed
Atifa
International Outreach Team
Suraj
Sivaraja
Suraj Sivaraja is an IB sophomore at Turner Fenton Secondary School in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. He is the Director of Writing for headstartSTEM, leading the Writing Team in providing high school students with opportunities and knowledge in STEM-related fields through engaging blogs, articles, and more. Outside of HSS, Suraj is actively engaged in helping young minds in his municipality find the fun in STEM! With an aspiration of becoming a Neuroscience Professor at a Major Academic Institute, Suraj is extremely fascinated by anything related to the brain. This interest was sparked after he became interested in learning about how mental ailments cause people to act in different ways. Suraj then proceeded to complete the Introduction to Psychology course by Yale University, started growing his knowledge in neuroscience through neuroscience courses, and began writing articles for organizations such as the Mississauga Youth Medical Association. As an active member of the Turner Fenton Community, he is involved in many clubs and teams including FBLA, the Science club, the cross country team, and the track team. Asides from academics and school, Suraj loves sports including Basketball, Soccer, Distance Running, Swimming and more. He has placed 1st in his age group at the annual Run for Hope 10K and has set his sights on competing in future races both locally and internationally.
Co-Director of Writing & Editing / Publication Co-Director
Lauren Reed (she/her) is a senior at The River Academy in Wenatchee, Washington. She first became interested in human behavior after watching shows such as criminal minds and Sherlock (BBC) and started to research the different branches of psychology and neuroscience. Lauren wanted to be in the STEM field (specifically medical) for eleven years, and what motivated her passion was her great aunt who died of Lou Gehrig's disease when Lauren was around eight years old. She was an adventurous, free-spirited woman and she inspired Lauren to follow her passions, which is what Lauren is doing today! The way the human brain interacts with the body and controls not only your actions but also the way you perceive the world around you and the people passing by inspires me to learn more about psychology and neuroscience!
Lauren
Reed
Writer
Raina
Bhatia
Raina Bhatia (she/her) is from Hill Spring International School in Mumbai, India, and is in grade 12. She is interested in the field of Bioengineering and astrophysics :)
Writer
Kyla Dewick (she/her) is a senior at a small high school in Wisconsin, and one interesting fact about her is that she has a twin brother! Kyla plans to study biomedical engineering in college although she is certainly open to changing her major in the future. She wants to become involved in undergraduate research that focuses on medicine or engineering. Kyla is passionate about empowering women in STEM, and in the summer of 2020, she started an Instagram initiative (@women__in__stem) to highlight inspirational women and provide advice for girls interested in STEM. At school, she is involved in a variety of clubs such as Yearbook, FBLA, FFA, and Battle of the Books, and she serves as the president of the National Honor Society and captain of the Varsity Soccer Team. In her free time, Kyla likes writing and editing articles for organizations such as SHEDIDTHAT and of course headstartSTEM, and she also enjoys reading, building puzzles, and baking.
Kyla
Dewick
Editor
Bhavsar
Vraj
Vraj Bhavsar (he/him) is from Toronto, Ontario in grade 11 and interested in the field of STEM, mainly Technology. He loves to code and build projects that will help to do complicated tasks in a much complied, simpler, and efficient way. Vraj originally became passionate about STEM at the age of 10 where he saw many robots and software's completing tasks in a much quicker motion. For example, production lines of creating vehicles and packaging items. He creates many mini clones of many applications which helps him understand the algorithms and coding behind all of the AI's. He wants to become a Computer Engineer and continue his passion in the Tech world.