Leadership Team

Get to know the people behind RPA

If you are interested in becoming a board member of RPA, please write to: PostdocAssoc@rice.edu. We always welcome any ideas and help with keeping RPA running!

Dr. Katie Young
Katie Young, Ph. D.

President (06/2025 -)

Dr. Katherine Shwetz
Katherine Shwetz, Ph. D.

Board member

Dr. Sarthak Gupta
Sarthak Gupta, PhD

Board member

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 Sujitkumar Bontapalle, RPA Leadership Board Member
Sujitkumar Bontapalle, PhD

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 - 06/2025)

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)