Viraj is a 4th year Bioengineering Ph.D. student in the Vlassakis Lab for Microtechnologies for Pediatric Oncology. Their research focuses on developing instrumentation to study cancer protein & DNA interactions at a single molecule level. Viraj received their B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2021. Formerly the DEI chair and social chair in the BIOE GSA, Viraj is currently a Rice Graduate Student Ambassador--if you have any questions about applying to grad school, especially Rice, please ask! In addition to cancer research, mentorship and pedagogy are also fields of interest, especially the formation of science identity throughout one's education. Outside of being a Ph.D. student, Viraj enjoys distance running and swimming. They also play the piano, bass, and guitar, as well as singing and beatboxing in Docappella, a Texas Medical Center based a cappella group.