ASPIRE program participants
ASPIRE Alumni
Fernando was a founding participant in the ASPIRE program, starting in academic year 2022-2023 and continuing in summer 2023. He returned as a Senior Scientist in academic year 2023-2024, taking on additional responsibility as a peer mentor.
Fernando graduated from Cal Poly Pomona in Spring 2024 and is currently a research technician at Cal Poly Pomona. Through his on-going work for the CPP Armamentarium Vector Core, Fernando is a co-author on four recent preprints: 1, 2, 3, 4.
Victor was a founding participant in the ASPIRE program during the academic year 2022-2023.
Victor graduated from Cal Poly Pomona in Spring 2024 and is currently a laboratory technician at CSU San Marcos.
Anaya was a founding participant in the ASPIRE program during the academic year 2022-2023. She is a published coauthor for her characterization of the engineered capsid AAV-PHP.eC.
After completing the program, Anaya transferred from Cal Poly Pomona to USC, where she graduated in spring 2025. In Fall 2026, Anaya will begin a master's program in biotechnology management at UC Irvine.
Kalif joined ASPIRE for the summer 2023 program and continued through academic year 2023-2024. He returned as a Senior Scientist, taking on peer mentoring responsibilities during the summer 2024 program.
Kalif graduated from Cal Poly Pomona in 2025 and is interested in a research technician position.
Irene joined ASPIRE for the summer 2023 program and continued through academic year 2023-2024. Irene is a published coauthor for her characterization of engineered AAV capsids.
Irene graduated from Cal Poly Pomona in Spring 2024 and plans to pursue a career in healthcare.
Kelli participated in the ASPIRE program during the 2023-2024 academic year.
Kelli graduated from Cal Poly Pomona in Spring 2024 and plans to pursue a career in healthcare.
Raul completed the summer 2024 ASPIRE program.
Arshia completed the academic year program in 2023-2024 and the summer program in 2024 before returning as a Senior Scientist for the 2024-2025 academic year. Arshia is also a coauthor on a manuscript in preparation.
In Fall 2026, Arshia will begin a master's program in bioengineering at UC San Diego.
Daniela completed the summer 2024 program and the 2024-2025 academic year program. Daniela is a coauthor on a manuscript in preparation.
Daniela graduated from Cal Poly Pomona in 2025 and is seeking a position as a research technician.
Jack completed the summer 2024 program and the 2024-2025 academic year program.
Maia completed the 2024-2025 academic year program and is a coauthor on a manuscript in preparation.
Idalina joined ASPIRE for the 2023-2024 academic year and returned as a Senior Scientist in the program for two additional full cycles of the program (academic year and summer). Idalina is a coauthor on a bioRxiv preprint and is also a coauthor on a manuscript in preparation.
In Fall 2026, Idalina will begin a master's program in biotechnology at Brown University.
Victoria joined the ASPIRE program for summer 2025 and continued through the 2025-2026 academic year.
Victoria received the STEM-NET Edison Student Research Award in 2026 and, having recently graduated, is actively seeking a research technician position.
Sawyer joined the ASPIRE program for summer 2025 and continued through the 2025-2026 academic year.