Introducing

Next BioLeader

A student-led initiative empowering aspiring scientists through mentorship, community, and professional development.

Next BioLeader is a Stanford-based network of research trainees, graduate students, and faculty dedicated to the success of your scientific career.

Next BioLeader is more than a workshop series, it is your scientific family.

With mentorship, peer support, and a lasting network, we are here to guide you every step of the way.

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Upcoming Workshops (Summer 2026)

Next BioLeader hosts career development workshops led by graduate students, postdocs, and faculty who've successfully navigated the journey you're now pursuing. We host workshops at three levels:

PhD Application Series: Monthly workshops led by graduate students who've been recently admitted into Biology and/or Neuroscience PhD programs, as well as faculty who have served on admissions committees and/or are recruiting graduate students.

Physician-Scientist (MD-PhD) Series: Monthly workshops led by MD-PhD students and faculty.

Prof-To-Be Series: Career development talks for those pursuing a career in academia. Invited faculty speakers reflect on their own career paths and share practical advice for grant writing, career planning, and leadership.

June 12th, 2026, 12-1pm PT: Landing a Faculty Job at a Top Research Institute

Prof-To-Be Series, Workshop 2

Next BioLeader is honored to host Ian Guldner, Ph.D., an incoming assistant professor at the Salk Institute. Previously a postdoctoral fellow at the Stanford Wyss-Coray lab, Ian will share about his successful journey navigating the academic job market towards professorship.

Special thank you to Corning for sponsoring our workshop!

PhD Workshop Schedule

MD-PhD Workshop Schedule

Prof-To-Be Workshop Schedule

Faculty Speakers

Next BioLeader is honored to host faculty speakers from leading bioscience departments across the country. Our invited speakers share insights from their experience on PhD admissions committees, reflect on their own career paths, and highlight exciting projects from their lab.

Rongxin Fang, PhD

Assistant Professor,

Stanford University Departments of Neurosurgery and Genetics (by courtesy)

Fang Lab

Henry Tseng, PhD

Assistant Professor,

Arizona State University School of Life Science

Tseng Lab

Jennifer Yokoyama, PhD

Associate Professor

University of California, San Francisco

Department of Neurology

Yokoyama lab

Andrew C. Yang, PhD

Assistant Professor

Gladstone Institutes & University of California, San Francisco

Department of Neurology

Yang lab

John Lukens, PhD

Professor

University of Virginia

School of Medicine, Neuroscience Department

Lukens Lab

Xiaoyu Chen, PhD

Assistant Professor

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Neurology Division

Chen Lab

Martine Therrien, PhD

Assistant Professor, University of California, Davis

Department of Molecular and Cell Biology

Gliomics Research Group

Louise Pay, PhD

Academic Editor & Research Consultant

Louise Pay Editing

Aimee Kao, MD, PhD

Professor

University of California, San Francisco

Department of Neurology

Kao Lab

Peter Mullen, PhD

Assistant Professor

University of Southern California

Microbiology and Immunology

Mullen Lab

Ian Guldner, PhD

Assistant Professor

Salk Institute

New lab at Salk in late 2026

[ Who do you want to learn from? ]

Send nextbioleader@gmail.com a message with the name/ website of a PI who inspires you!

Student Speakers

Alena Smith

PhD student, University of Southern California Neuroscience Graduate Program

Margarita Artiukhova

PhD student, Stanford University, Molecular and Cellular Physiology

Max Hauptschein

PhD student, Harvard Medical School Biological and Biomedical Sciences

Albert Ay

PhD student, Integrative Neuroscience at Dartmouth

Shoxruxxon Alimukhamedov

PhD student, UCSF Neuroscience Graduate Program

Matthew Matrungolo

PhD candidate, Stanford University Neurosciences Program

Olivia Zhou

MSTP (MD-PhD) student, Stanford University

Eshaan Rawat

Medical student (MD), Harvard Medical School

Aulden Foltz

MSTP (MD-PhD) student, Baylor College of Medicine

Genper Wong

PhD student, Stanford University Neurosciences Program

Brandon Bergsneider

Medical student (MD),

Stanford University

George Mourgkos

Medical student (MD),

Stanford University

Micaiah Atkins

Medical student (MD),

SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University

Kamsi Nwangwu

MD/PhD student

Stanford University

[ This could be you ]

Want to share about your journey to grad school? Apply to be a NextBioLeader mentor!

Leadership

Andy Tsai, PhD

Founder

Larry L. Hillblom Postdoctoral Fellow,

Wyss-Coray Lab, Stanford University

andytsai@stanford.edu

Alena Smith

President

Ph.D. student, University of Southern California

Former research assistant at the Poston Lab, Stanford University

alenasmi@usc.edu

Eduardo Ramirez Lopez

Vice-President

Research Assistant

Wyss-Coray Lab, Stanford University

eduardor@stanford.edu

Undergraduate Liasons

Amara Martin

Stanford University

Undergraduate student leader

Ava Yeh

Stanford University

Undergraduate student leader

Andrew Mi

Stanford University

Undergraduate student leader

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