Youth Scientific Council on Adolescence

Andrea is an undergraduate at Los Angeles Mission College interested in human behavior. She is passionate about tackling mental health challenges for people of all backgrounds. She will use her time at CDA to develop and apply skills to advocate for mental health resources for Latinx and other marginalized communities. Andrea intends to enter a career that helps support and empower our most vulnerable community members, and specifically to help ensure that all children are able to grow up with the resources and ability to overcome trauma in a healthy manner. She believes early awareness and intervention are key to helping individuals have positive life and social outcomes in the future.

Becker is a high school senior with an immense interest in investigating how the world works through scientific means. He aims to learn more about working with a team of peers to better the lives of adolescents. In school, he is part of his Model United Nations Club and plans to revitalize the Future Medical Professions Club for others at his school interested in that future.

Brandon is a first-year undergraduate management and leadership student at Loyola Marymount University. He is committed to broadening his interests in science and psychology to learn more about adolescent development and mental health to better understand each other and construct a better future for everyone. Brandon has also served as a volunteer mentor at PS Science and as the President of the USC Palisades Charter High School MESA (Math, Engineering, Science Achievement) division.

Dallas is currently a high school senior with an interest in working with adolescents, understanding brain development, and learning about mental health disorders including schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder. She hopes her time on the YSCA will allow her to work with like-minded people and learn more about her interests.

Faith is a fourth-year undergraduate student at UCLA studying psychobiology. She is fascinated by the neural mechanisms underlying behavior and is excited to bridge her neuroscientific and public policy interests as a member of the YSCA. She dedicates much of her time to basic neuroscience research studying decision-making processes as a research assistant and is a member of the Brain and Behavioral Health (BBH) minor program offered by the Semel Institute at UCLA.

Kaelyn is a high school senior who aims to learn more about adolescent development and the processes of a science-centered education that supports the positive development of all young people. Her goals are to understand human diversity and the stages of human development and learn about creating room for development. Read Kaelyn’s CDA blog posts The Scientific Case for Later School Start Times and Friendships & School Diversity.

Kobe is a current high school senior with an immense curiosity and passion for the STEM field. As a member of the YSCA, he hopes to make a lasting impact on the lives of young people with his colleagues. After high school, Kobe aspires to enter the electrical engineering field at a university. Most of his free time is spent trying to make this a reality.

Namrata is a third-year student at UCLA studying psychology and sociology. She is passionate about promoting mental health equity for underserved communities by understanding the intersectionality between institutional and psychological factors. Namrata currently serves as the Internal Vice President of MannMukti at UCLA (the campus’s sole South Asian mental health organization) as well as an executive board member for The Hidden Dream (a nationwide organization aimed to support visa immigrants).

Talya is a first-year student at Santa Monica College with a longtime fascination with the sciences and a strong desire to make a difference in the community. She is especially interested in the molecular side of psychology and is curious about the physiological changes that occur in the brain throughout one’s life. This includes neurological changes during puberty and disorders that might arise later down the line such as dementia.