Leadership Team

If you are interested in becoming a board member of RPA, please write to: PostdocAssoc@rice.edu (we currently have a good number of board members, but please contact us anyway if you have a specific idea or vision for RPA and we are happy to discuss further).

Dr. Mendel Kranz
Mendel Kranz, PhD

Board member


Dr. Shanna Chu
Shanna Chu, Ph.D.

Board Member


Dr. Toros Arikan
Toros Arikan, Ph.D.

Board Member

Dr. Aleksandra Nelson
Aleksandra Nelson, Ph.D.

Former Board Member



Image of Roy Lycke, RPA Leadership Board Member
Roy Lycke, PhD

Board member

Image of Sho Watanabe, RPA Leadership Board Member
Sho Watanabe, PhD

Board member


Dr. Tesla Cariani
Tesla Cariani, PhD

Former Board member


Dr. Jaleh Jalili
Jaleh Jalili, PhD

Former Board member

Dr. Andrew Anderson
Andrew Anderson, Ph.D.

Former Board member


Dr. Manuel Iburg
Manuel Iburg, Ph.D.

President (01/2024 -)


Dr. Tinglian Yuan
Tinglian Yuan, Ph.D.

Former Board member

Dr. Roman Zhuravel
Roman Zhuravel, Ph.D.

Former Board Member


Dr. Khen Elimelech
Khen Elimelech, Ph.D.

President (01 / 2021 - 12 / 2023)