NAARE Scholars Profiles - Cohort 1

Mayerly Castillo

Mayerly is a third year majoring in public health and minoring in child and adolescent development. Her career goal is to work as an epidemiologist in a local or state Department of Public Health. Through the NAARE program, she hopes to learn more about the impact of neurocognitive aging and diseases on the population's health.

Yonny Chavez

Yonny is a senior majoring in cell developmental biology. He wants to apply his knowledge in biology to computational analysis and provide insights into the medical world's enigmas. Through the NAARE program, he is driven to enhance his statistical expertise in epidemiology. Yonny is determined to become a physician-researcher and make significant contributions to the field of medicine.

Marlene Lopez

Marlene is a third-year biology major. Her research interests include genomics, molecular biology, and evolutionary biology. Her goals are to obtain a graduate degree and eventually work in Biotechnology. 

Daisy Mendoza

Daisy is a junior majoring in public health. Through the NAARE program, she hopes to learn foundational skills to strengthen her knowledge and prepare for further education. Her research interests are in chronic, infectious, and food-borne diseases. She aspires to maneuver through rigorous statistical software to further her passion for epidemiological studies.

Nicholas Noel

Nick is a junior who transferred from Citrus Community College, majoring in mathematics with a concentration in probability and statistics. He is interested in data science, machine learning, and data visualization. He originally had a concentration in teaching, but after having the opportunity to do research in a joint project with UCI and Cypress College, he found that statistics was what he wanted to develop and thought NAARE would be a great place for that.

James Owens

James is a third-year computer science major with a passion for data science and machine learning. He is highly enthusiastic about using data science methods to explore the mechanisms of neurocognitive aging and develop effective interventions. He understands that studying cognitive changes that occur as people age is a complex and challenging problem. He believes that data-driven approaches offer great potential for uncovering new insights into this important area of research.

Keara Richardson

Keara is a junior who transferred from Santa Monica College to CSUF in 2021. Her major is psychology with a concentration on statistical analysis in neuropsychology. She gained an interest in statistics and gathering data after taking basic stats courses along with psychology courses at her community college. She wants to use her stats knowledge and conduct data for degenerative brain diseases and disorders such as schizophrenia or brain cancer. 

Mariella Santos

Mariella is a senior, majoring in public health with a concentration in global health. She believes that age-related neurocognitive diseases are almost inevitable for many people. Knowing how detrimental it can be for an individual to experience Alzheimer's disease and dementia, she wants to understand the biological component and other social determinants that contribute to this disease.

Sasha Tafolla

Sasha is a junior majoring in mathematics with a concentration in applied mathematics. She is interested in using programming to analyze data and create models. She also enjoys learning about the many ways in which mathematics can be used as a tool to further research in other fields. Her future goals are to obtain a Ph.D. in mathematics and to pursue a job in private industry.

Raena Zabala

Raena is a junior majoring in health science with a concentration in health education and promotion. She became interested in Neurocognitive aging when her grandfather was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease nine years ago. She also learned about dementia with a large variety of patients while volunteering in hospitals. She wishes to use her experience with the patients she has met, as well as the journey she faced with her grandfather, to learn more and be able to promote awareness for others.