Members
EXECUTIVE BOARD 2023-2024
Irene Chang & Jeffrey Yang
Editors-in-Chief
Irene Chang (she/her) is a fourth-year Psychobiology Major, and Applied Developmental Psychology and Gerontology double minor from Fremont, California. Outside of URJP, she is Co-President of Community Health Collective, Logistics Director of Chinese American Culture Night, a volunteer with Expressive Movement Initiative, a Research Assistant for the Language and Cognitive Development Lab, and a member of UCLA Music of China, Synthesis Dance Theater, LA Hacks, and GeroFit. Irene is currently working on an independent research project exploring differences between monolingual and bilingual children’s language development/acquisition through narrative studies. Irene aspires to become a Pediatrician and continue volunteering with her passion for dance and music
Jeffrey Yang (he/him/his) is a fourth-year Computational and Systems Biology major from the bay area. His interests include Neuroscience, Psychology, and Computational Sciences, and outside of URJP, he conducts research in the Buonomano and Hernandez Lab about cortical timing and genetic risk factors for ASD In his free time, he enjoys running and playing basketball, and after graduation, his plans include graduate school. Fun fact is he really enjoys cooking and wants to design a cookbook one day!
Angelina Meng & Haryn Shin
Associate Editors-in-Chief
Angelina (she/her) is a third-year Psychology major with a minor in Brain and Behavioral Health and a specialization in computing. Outside of URJP, she is involved as an undergraduate research assistant at both the Brain and Body Lab and a social skills treatment program for children at the Semel Institute. After graduation, she plans to attend graduate school and conduct research related to developmental or clinical psychology. In her free time, she enjoys watching musicals and hiking.
Haryn (she/her) is a third-year Cognitive Science major with a minor in Digital Humanities. Outside of URJP, she is a legal assistant at a nonprofit and a research assistant at UCLA Health. After she graduates, she hopes to pursue a career in law. A fun fact about Haryn is that she can figure skate!
Keira Minamizono-von Imbior
Staff Director
Keira Minamizono-von Imbior (she/her) is a fourth-year psychology major and labor studies minor from Pasadena, CA. Outside of URJP, Keira is a research assistant for the Management & Organizations program at UCLA Anderson School of Management. She also previously worked as a research assistant at UCLA’s Social Relations Lab and Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. Through these opportunities, Keira has been able to develop and refine her research interests: equity, diversity, & inclusion, organization & evaluation, intersectionality, gender, race & ethnicity, and social identity & expression. After receiving her bachelor’s, she plans to pursue a master’s degree in organizational psychology and use her graduate training to advance EDI initiatives in the workplace.
Iwanka Iwanojko & Sophi Whitman
Directors of Submissions and Workshops
Iwanka (she/her/hers) is a fourth-year college student and a second year transfer student from Sacramento majoring in pre-psychology. Outside of URJP, she is also an editor for Grey Matters. She works as an RA for the UCLA Language Processing Lab and the UCLA Multisensory Processing Lab. After she graduates, she plans to attend graduate school for behavioral neuroscience and conduct research relating to neuroplasticity and cognitive optimization. In her free time, she likes to rock climb and surf wherever the West Coast takes her!
Sophi (she/her) is a third-year Psychobiology major, Brain and Behavioral Health Minor from Beverly Hills, Michigan. Aside from working with URJP, she is involved in the Interaxon club at UCLA and the pre-Physician Assistants club. After graduation, she plans on an attending graduate school and possibly earning her Ph.D in Psychology.
Hanna Liu
Directors of Marketing and Finance
Hanna (she/her) is currently a third-year Cognitive Science major and Digital Humanities minor from the Bay Area. Outside of URJP, she is the Assistant Graphics Editor at the Daily Bruin and a design team lead at Innovative Design. She hopes to pursue UX/UI design after graduation and would love to continue working on creative projects in the future.
Tarangini Arunachalam
Social Chair
Tarangini (she/her) is a third-year psychology major. She is from Long Island, New York. In her free time, she enjoys reading and cooking. After graduation, Tarangini hopes to go to grad school and eventually work with children.
OUR 2023-2024 TEAM
Editing Leads
Christina Feng
Christina Feng (she/her) is a fourth-year Psychology student minoring in Brain and Behavioral Health. Apart from being an editor at URJP, she is also a Research Assistant at the Wassum Lab at UCLA and is interested in going to graduate school to research how brain circuits adapt to the environment to make decisions– and how these brain circuits are affected by mental health disorders. She loves to learn about the chemistry of baking (and participate in it!) and is trying to rekindle her past hobby of digital drawing.
Matilde Forcina
Matilde (she/her) is a second-year Psychology major from Rome, Italy. After university she intends to pursue a PhD program in clinical psychology, specifically in the area of developmental psychology. Outside of URJP, she is involved in the Horse Riding Team at the University of St Andrews, where she is spending the 2023-2024 academic year as a study abroad student!
Mario Peng Lee
Mario (he/him) is a fourth-year international student from Argentina, majoring in Linguistics & Computer Science with a minor in Data Science Engineering. In addition to his involvement with the Undergraduate Research Journal of Psychology (URJP), he leads the AI Safety club at UCLA. His research interests span Human-Computer Interaction and Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence. After graduation, Mario plans to pursue a PhD in Computer Science or a related field. In his leisure time, he enjoys training at the gym, traveling, photography, coding video games, music composition, and cooking
Joel Sitanggang
Born and raised in the lush archipelago nation of Indonesia, Joel Sitanggang (he/him) is a second-year transfer majoring in Psychology with ambitious ideations for the future. He is a ball of flamboyant energy with a penchant for table-top role-playing games, eclectic internet subcultures, and biting off more than he can chew. His favorite activity involves spreading himself too thin, so you can easily catch him engaged in numerous other clubs on campus; when you do, do not be afraid to spark a conversation, and you might just make a new companion.
Lauren Tran
Lauren Tran (she/her) is a fourth-year psychobiology major and neuroscience minor and is a part of the editing team at URJP. Outside of URJP, she is a scribe at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Hospital and is a staff member at SPACE of UCLA’s Samahang Pilipino. In the future, she plans to continue to medical school and eventually adopt 10 dogs.
Pauline Vartany
Pauline (she/her) is a fourth year Psychology major with Cognitive Science and Musicology minors. Outside of URJP, she is the research coordinator of the ADHD and Development Lab and is interested in pursuing graduate school in clinical psychology. In her free time, she loves to play tennis and try new coffee shops!
Editors
Jessie Chang
Headshot and bio coming soon!
Eugene Choi
Eugene Choi (she/her) is a first year at UCLA majoring in Psychobiology and considering a minor in Brain and Behavioral Health and/or Biomedical Research. Having spent each half of her life in Korea and the Philippines, her interests lie in unearthing the intersections between Psychology, Neuroscience, and Philosophy to uplift disadvantaged and vulnerable communities. Alongside URJP, Eugene combines her artistic passions through Awechords A Capella and Interaxon, working closely with schools underfunded in the sciences.
Justine Dao
Justine Dao (she/her/hers) is a first-year transfer student at UCLA, pursuing a major in
Psychology. Hailing from Boston, Massachusetts, she is deeply engaged in research
spanning Clinical and Developmental Psychology, with a particular focus on mental
disorders and the impact of social phenomena. Additionally, her academic pursuits
extend to research in education, reflecting a commitment to advancing understanding
and addressing critical issues in the field.
Daniella Diaz
Headshot and bio coming soon!
Jordan Hoang
Jordan (she/her) is a fourth-year psychobiology major from Hastings on Hudson, NY. Outside of URJP, Jordan is a research assistant at the Center of Mental Health in Schools and a publicity director for WYSE, a mentorship program focused on empowering local middle school girls. In the future, Jordan hopes to pursue a career in clinical or health psychology and start her own clinic. In her free time, she enjoys reading, taking film photos, and looking for the best coffee shops in LA.
Russell Lee
Headshot and bio coming soon!
Ella Liu
Headshot and bio coming soon!
Bello Ortega
Headshot and bio coming soon!
Katherine Song
Katherine Song (she/her) is a second-year psychology major at UCLA. I’m from a small town called San Francisco — it’s right by Fremont. My research interest lies primarily in clinical psychology, particularly involving the etiology of mental illnesses and the most effective ways to treat them. I’m hoping to apply for a PhD in clinical psychology and would love to form connections with likeminded people. Fight on!
Vibha Srinivas
Headshot and bio coming soon!
Danika Suh
Danika Suh (she/her) is a first year psychology major from Burbank, California. In the near future, I plan on becoming a research assistant and declaring a minor. After graduation, I hope to pursue a PhD in clinical psychology to become a clinical psychologist. In my free time, I love to visit new cafes and restaurants with friends!
Yiting Wang
Yiting Wang is a third-year student majoring in Cognitive Science and Statistics from Shanghai, China. She is interested in studying statistical modeling, decision making process, and perspective taking, while she is also exploring other possibilities in the field. She is currently an RA for Han Du’s Quant Lab and the Computational Vision and Learning Lab. Before transferring to UCLA, Yiting worked as an RA in MADLAB at UC Irvine for a year. In her free time, Yiting enjoys reading, going to movies or theaters, and listening to podcasts.
Gareth Yu
Gareth Yu (He/Him) is a first-year Cognitive Science major (planning to double major in Linguistics) from Gardena, CA. Outside of URJP, Gareth is a member of Psi Chi and The Undergraduate Psychology Society. After graduation, he hopes to pursue a PhD in cognitive psychology, focusing on language processing and multilingualism. In his free time, he loves learning languages and traveling.
Rui Yu
Headshot and bio coming soon!
Chloe Zhu
Headshot and bio coming soon!
Submissions And Workshops
Yumna Battisha
Headshot and bio coming soon!
Jacob Bower
Jacob Bower (he/him) is a third-year majoring in Cognitive Science and Spanish & Linguistics from Long Beach, California. Jacob is really interested in both cognitive (including the connection between cognition and language) and clinical psychology. Outside of URJP, Jacob is a research assistant in the Language Processing Lab and the Spanish & Portuguese department. After graduation, I hope to go onto grad school and pursue a career in research and/or teaching. CA.
Naomi Escobar
Headshot and bio coming soon!
Chase Savela
Headshot and bio coming soon!
Iran Valladares
Headshot and bio coming soon!
Marketing and Finance
Leil Cheng
Leil Cheng (she/her) is a first year undergraduate student majoring in psychobiology. She is from San Mateo, California in the Bay Area. Leil is broadly interested in developmental psychology, but hopes to narrow down her research interests in the future and is open to exploration. In her free time, she can be found drawing, reading, and listening to opera.
Winnie He
Headshot and bio coming soon!
Joyce Lee
Joyce Lee (she/her) is a second year Psychobiology major here at UCLA. She is from Anaheim Hills, California. Her research interests include Clinical Psychology, Neuroscience, and Stem Cell Biology. Outside of being on the marketing team of URJP, she is involved with UCLA health and is volunteering at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
Sydney Randolph
Sydney Randolph is a first-year Psychology major from San Diego, California. Outside of URJP, she spends her time with TUPS at UCLA (The Undergraduate Psychology Society), playing beach volleyball, reading books, going to the gym, or spending time in the sun with her dogs. She hopes to pursue a career in music therapy or clinical psychology.
Camille Willis
Headshot and bio coming soon!