Team Contributions & Attributions
The success of NeuroSplice is built on the passion and dedication of every team member. Below is a detailed breakdown of the contributions from each individual and advisory group.
1. Team Leadership & Management
Shriya Anumarlu (Founder & Team Lead)
Shriya founded and led the CalUCSF iGEM team of 28 members, establishing the team’s foundation and driving the NeuroSplice project from concept to execution. She secured a partnership with UCSF PI Dr. Joe Sabatino and the Sabatino Lab at the UCSF Weill Neuroscience Institute, while also facilitating collaboration with the UC Berkeley Stahl Lab. Shriya managed recruitment over a two-week span, creating and reviewing applications, interviewing candidates, and assigning members to subteams based on skills, experience, and time commitment. She appointed leads for Wet Lab, Dry Lab, Graphics/Media, Wiki, and Human Practices, and maintained oversight of all 27+ members across subteams to ensure alignment and accountability. In addition to leading the team structure, Shriya coordinated funding and sponsorships. She contacted over 50 companies, applied for and secured the Zymo Research Grant ($2,000), created sponsorship materials, and managed registration fees and team finances. Through these efforts, she raised $10,000 for the team and personally covered remaining expenses and materials. She held regular all-team meetings, providing updates on project direction, competition structure, and announcements, increasing meeting frequency in the lead-up to the iGEM freeze date. She also developed organizational systems, creating shared timelines and resources in Box for leads and members to track deliverables. Scientifically, Shriya was instrumental in project design and execution. She devised the NeuroSplice project concept, explained its scientific framework to the team, and refined protocols with the Wet Lab Lead. She performed all wet-lab trials, conducted data analysis, and iteratively improved experimental approaches. She also collaborated with the Dry Lab Lead to design the sIL7R toehold switch sequences, reviewed models, and provided feedback for refinement. She generated data visualizations, analyzed both wet- and dry-lab results, and applied insights to subsequent experiments and wiki content. Shriya also spearheaded outreach and communications. She worked with Human Practices to arrange interviews with an MS specialist and professor, co-presented outreach activities to children in Singapore, and represented the team in meetings with Zymo Research to discuss sponsorship needs and collaborations. She created the promotional video (with support from the Media Lead), assisted in wiki coding, and authored the majority of the written content. She added all parts to the Parts Collection, ensuring the team’s contributions were documented. Overall, Shriya’s leadership spanned scientific, organizational, financial, and outreach dimensions. She was responsible for founding the team, raising funds, managing sponsorships, overseeing all subteams, designing and executing experiments, analyzing data, producing media, and keeping the project on track from inception to competition.
Krrishika Saxena (Wet Lab Lead & Assistant Team Coordinator)
As Assistant Team Coordinator and Wet Lab Lead, I played a central role in both designing and executing the scientific and organizational progress of the project.She actively coordinated communication between Wet Lab, Dry Lab, Human Practices, Media, and Tech leads, ensuring that experiments, outreach, and deliverables advanced in parallel. She led the Wet Lab team by developing the experimental workflow, drafting detailed protocols for all 10 trials, and iteratively revising methods based on results and data analysis. She conducted extensive background research on toehold switches, IL7R splicing variants, and synthetic biology assay design, using this knowledge to troubleshoot challenges and guide experimental planning. Krrishika also interviewed multiple sclerosis specialists and incorporated their perspectives to bridge experimental design with clinical and diagnostic relevance. In the laboratory, she guided team members step by step through pipetting, incubation, data collection, and fluorescence measurements, ensuring accuracy, reproducibility, and adherence to best practices. She contributed to the design of the sIL7R variant sequence that ultimately formed the basis for the team’s final functional construct, while also supporting human practices initiatives such as the children’s book and poem project. Beyond the bench, she assisted with wiki development by compiling, curating, and organizing wet lab data, images, and documentation for clear presentation to judges and the community.
Aadya Matthew (Dry Lab Lead)
Led the Dry Lab team, overseeing toehold switch trials from design to in silico validation. Conducted initial dataset and literature mining (PubMed, NCBI, RefSeq) to identify IL7R exon 6 skipping as the most reliable neurological splice variant target. Designed the initial toehold–amilCP construct, embedding RBS and AUG sequences within a stable hairpin structure and testing stability using NUPACK and RNAstructure. Optimized switch architecture across multiple iterations, extending trigger length, refining buffer regions, and modifying GC content to reduce leakiness. Maintained detailed SnapGene visualizations and sequence documentation, ensuring accuracy and traceability for all constructs. Coordinated closely with the wet lab team to translate computational models into experimental protocols for sIL7R detection.
Scarlett Huang (Human Practices Lead)
Scheduled meetings, created slides for presentations, managed task sheets and deadlines, and organized documentation of all HP activities. Developed detailed spreadsheets to track potential, contacted, and confirmed stakeholders, including schools and health organizations. Drafted interview questions, consent forms, and four stakeholder-specific surveys, as well as two professional outreach emails for interviews and surveys. Contacted 20+ stakeholders and 10–12 schools, securing multiple interviews and arranging a preschool presentation at the Singapore American School. Co-developed a children’s book and poem for preschool outreach with the Media team and assisted in drafting the Ethics and Safety section.
Kirsten Chan (Graphic & Media Design Team Lead)
Directed the Media Team and oversaw content creation and outreach. Designed the official CalUCSF iGEM team logo representing the project. Created 20+ social media posts for the main CalUCSF Instagram page. Illustrated a children’s book on neurological disorders and caregiving to those with neurodegenerative diseases. Presented and distributed the book to 50+ children as part of community education efforts.
2. Wet Lab: Experiments and Data
Poorvi Thairani
Researched successful team wikis to generate design and organizational strategies. Proposed initial UI and graphic concepts to enhance readability and navigation. Contributed to writing and documentation for both wet lab and dry lab teams. Assisted with data analysis for wet lab.
Sriya Yenne
Assisted with Trial 2 execution, including pipetting and NanoDrop measurements. Recorded experimental data and documented progress. Photographed each stage of the trial to support lab records and reporting.
Pinaki Pramanik
Contributed to the wet lab efforts and helped create toehold mechanism diagrams and visualizations for the wiki's Project and Design pages.
Khushi Kangle
Assisted in analyzing and graphing results for five of the ten wet lab trials to support data visualization and interpretation. Performed an educational poem for kindergarten students, teaching them about the brain and raising awareness of neurodegenerative diseases in an engaging, age-appropriate way. Also assisted on the tech team.
Sindhuja Bokkisam
Assisted in analyzing wet lab data and creating graphs to visualize experimental results. Helped conduct interviews with a multiple sclerosis (MS) specialist to gather expert insights for Human Practices research.
Sanoja Sobhani
Assisted with analyzing and graphing wet lab data using Excel. Documented the experimental process through photographs. Helped with pipetting, monitoring the heat block, and lab cleanup during experiments.
Prithika Poomaran
Logged weekly updates in the shared lab notebook. Drafted and finalized iGEM Wiki templates and content outlines. Assisted with drafting experiment summaries and write-ups, and completed wet lab data analysis.
Richard Kim
Assisted with wet lab trial execution and data collection. Created high-quality toehold mechanism diagrams for project visuals. Contributed to wet lab documentation and record keeping.
3. Dry Lab: Computational Design and Modeling
Arjun Gurjar
Evaluated two different exon splicing diseases, found their consensus sequences and disease associated sequences. After focusing on IL7R, documented the exon 6 sequence and used NUPACK to predict RNA secondary structure for the mRNA. Used NUPACK again to verify the secondary structure of the finalized toehold sequence.
Azhahini Krishnamoorthy
Assisted team in documenting and designing IL7R splice variant toeholds; verified sequences with BLAST and completed secondary structure screening. Also helped illustrate splice variants, TX-TL, and color detection visuals; created graphics and posts; assisted with video and photo documentation.
Garv Goswami
Helped troubleshoot and resolve wiki code, formatting, and page functionality issues. Ensured consistency, accessibility, and smooth navigation across wiki pages. Assisted with dry lab work, including toehold sequence design, verification, and documentation.
Radha Paravastu
Contributed to Dry Lab Phases I–II and Final Sequence documentation, identifying splice variants, verifying IL7R sequences, and confirming toehold specificity. Reviewed data tables and BLAST results for accuracy and consistency. Assisted Human Practices by emailing stakeholders to request interviews.
Shravan Balaji
Contributed to the Dry Lab team by completing Phases 1 and 2, focusing on genome sequence isolation and data analysis. Used NUPACK and other tools to process and refine DNA sequences for use by the Wet Lab team.
Sia Jain
Completed Phase 2, focusing on computational design, data interpretation, and refinement of the toehold model.
Sophia Jiang
Researched MS/ALS-related splices and identified target sequences using PubMed. Used NUPACK to model and visualize toehold switch designs. Cross-checked data for accuracy and assessed potential cross-reactivity.
4. Human Practices & Outreach
Dean Tat
Conducted academic paper research for Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), and Diagnostic tools. Found 15 UCSF physician stakeholders and connected the HP team with one for an interview. Helped present about neurological diseases and the brain to school kids.
Harkirat Batth
Helped draft survey questions, contacted multiple stakeholders, and supported outreach and interview planning. Participated in the interview with the MS Specialist.
Parmis Broumandi
Researched the ethics and societal impact of RNA-based diagnostics, identified and contacted multiple stakeholders, and helped draft interview questions and surveys. Also helped create Instagram posts, outreach visuals, and helped design the project logo.
Khushi Kangle
Performed an educational poem for kindergarten students, teaching them about the brain and raising awareness of neurodegenerative diseases in an engaging, age-appropriate way.
5. Design, Graphics, & Media
Sharika Pattanshetty
Communicated with leads to provide graphics support. Designed graphics for the wiki and Instagram posts.
Azhahini Krishnamoorthy
Illustrated splice variants, TX-TL, and color detection visuals. Created graphics and posts; assisted with video and photo documentation.
Parmis Broumandi
Helped create Instagram posts, outreach visuals, and helped design the project logo.
6. Tech & Wiki Development
Saketh Machiraju (Tech Team Lead)
Developed and designed the entire wiki using Flask, Tailwind CSS, Python, and JavaScript. Integrated all text, graphics, and visual assets into a cohesive, responsive design. Led debugging and functionality improvements with other tech team members.
Garv Goswami
Helped troubleshoot and resolve wiki code, formatting, and page functionality issues, ensuring consistency, accessibility, and smooth navigation across wiki pages. Also assisted with dry lab work, including toehold sequence design, verification, and documentation.
Khushi Kangle
Assisted on the tech team with general support and troubleshooting.
7. Sponsorship & Administration
Diya Rajani (Finance Manager)
Led fundraising, budgeting, and financial planning for UC Berkeley’s iGEM team. Created a funding tracker for outreach to departments, sponsors, and grant programs. Drafted sponsorship materials and managed communication with potential donors. Developed a recognition plan and budget framework to ensure transparency and sustainability. Also took professional photos of the group.
Aditya Sivakumar (Financial Contributor)
Generously funded the team registration fee and other critical expenses, providing the foundational financial support required to initiate the project.
NeuroSplice is a student-led project. All core project work was performed by the student team, clearly demarcated in Sections 1 through 6.