Miles Arnett

President

As president of PSPDG, Miles manages relationships with outside organizations and alumni, leads long-term strategies, coordinates financial planning, and supports the development of PSPDG’s leadership team.

Miles (He/Him) is a PhD student in the Bioengineering department at the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently researching cellular memory in the Raj Lab, and particularly how cancer cells develop resistance to targeted therapies. Outside of the lab, he hopes that his work as part of PSPDG will get more scientists thinking about how their work can positively impact society, and is otherwise keenly interested in election law, astronomy, and Boston sports. After graduation, he hopes to continue working in science policy, either as a career or as a supplement to academic research.

Vivian Xu

Vice President

Vivian supports PSPDG’s President by coordinating partnerships with external policy organizations and leading communications for PSPDG.

Vivian (She/Her) completed her BS in Neuroscience at UCLA and her MS in Toxicology at Columbia University. She is now a PhD student in the Pharmacology Graduate Group at Penn. While at UCLA, she held several leadership roles at the Daily Bruin where she ran the arts and entertainment section of 50 individuals. She now applies her media experiences to advance science communication and outreach of PSPDG’s programming and mission.

Megan Wynalda

Treasurer

As the Treasurer of PSPDG, Megan oversees finances for all three branches of the group. She also seeks new funding opportunities for PSPDG, manages its grants, and coordinates member reimbursements and purchase orders.

Megan completed bachelors degrees in Neuroscience and Kinesiology at Indiana University. Now a Pharmacology PhD candidate, she is interrogating the large female bias observed in autoimmune diseases. Through PSPDG, she hopes to gain more opportunities in science policy and communication to give her the framework to bring actionable change in her field.

Kenji Yeoh

Science Policy Chair

As science policy chair, Kenji develops and organizes policy initiatives and events, by bringing together teams of passionate scientists to learn and teach each other the fundamentals of science policy.

Kenji (He/Him) is a 4th-year PhD Student in the Bioengineering Department at the University of Pennsylvania. His research focuses on developing genetic circuits to report on the activity of critical genetic pathways in kidney development in real-time. His focus as science policy chair is to make science policy more accessible to everyone and to prepare them to engage with the dynamic landscape of science policy.

Maria Maltepes

Science Communication Co-Chair

Maria oversees and helps teams develop science communication initiatives and events, including training workshops, media production, and career exploration. She also helps coordinate collaborations between PSPDG's SciComm teams and other student groups.

Maria Maltepes (she/her) is a PhD candidate in Biology at the University of Pennsylvania. Maria studies how influenza evolves across different hosts with the goal of predicting emerging infectious disease threats and guiding timely public health responses. She is also interested in how scientists can engage effectively with diverse communities, policymakers, and global stakeholders, including in contexts where scientific credibility and public trust are contested. To that end, she is currently the Science Communication co-chair for PSPDG, a 2026-27 Perry World House Global Policy Fellow, and a working member of the Scientists Network for Advancing Policy (SNAP).

Diego Mendez

Science Communication Co-Chair

Diego oversees and helps teams develop science communication initiatives and events, including training workshops, media production, and career exploration. She also helps coordinate collaborations between PSPDG's SciComm teams and other student groups

Diego is originally from Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, and graduated with a B.S. in Industrial Microbiology from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the Scheie Eye Institute, where he works in the Guo Lab developing gene therapy strategies to address age-related macular degeneration. Diego is passionate about equipping scientists with the tools to communicate their research effectively with the general public and the Philadelphia community, with the goal of fostering greater trust and engagement between scientists and the communities they serve.

Dimitris Boufidis

Science Diplomacy Co-Chair

Dimitris creates events to promote science in diplomatic settings, educate members on international relations and foreign policy, and promote STEM as a crucial part of foreign affairs.

Dimitris (He/Him) is a Bioengineering Ph.D. student at the University of Pennsylvania, working at the intersection of neural tissue engineering and flexible bioelectronics. Originally from Greece, he graduated from the University of Sheffield with the 2022 Chancellor’s Medal Award. He’s been recognized as a top 100 “Leader of Tomorrow” in the biotech industry (GS2020, Cambridge UK), national winner of the UK’s Student Employee of the Year 2020, and his volunteering work has been featured on The Guardian and BBC News. He’s a TEDx Speaker, passionate about STEM outreach, and an aspiring science policy and diplomacy professional. He is currently the Science Diplomacy Chair of the Penn Science Policy and Diplomacy Group (PSPDG).

Aisha Sallah

Science Diplomacy Co-Chair

Aisha creates events to promote science in diplomatic settings, educate members on international relations and foreign policy, and promote STEM as a crucial part of foreign affairs.

Aisha is a genomics researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, where she uses statistical genetics and large-scale biobank data to investigate sex differences in gene–environment interactions underlying addiction disorders. She holds a master’s degree in Human Evolutionary Genetics and Epigenetics from Sorbonne University in France and has gained academic and research experience across France, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Drawing on her international background, she is particularly interested in science diplomacy as a means of strengthening international scientific partnerships, especially in Africa and the Middle East, while promoting ethical and equitable research collaboration. As Co-Chair of the Science Diplomacy Branch of the Penn Science Policy and Diplomacy Group (PSPDG), she hopes to contribute to the development of science diplomacy curricula and practical training opportunities that help prepare the next generation of science diplomats.

Emily Xu

Media and outreach coordinator

As Media and Outreach Coordinator of PSPDG, Emily leads communication campaigns and maintains PSPDG’s online presence to promote our organization and disseminate program outcomes.

Emily completed her B.S. in Biochemistry and German at the University of Michigan. She is now a PhD student in the Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Chemical Biology Graduate Group at the University of Pennsylvania. She studies aggregation-prone proteins implicated in neurodegenerative diseases and researches potential therapies for these diseases.

Kaeri Martinez Medina

President Emerita | contact

As the President Emerita of PSPDG, Kai provides advice and support to the President and Executive Leadership team in long-term strategizing, financial planning, managing relationships with outside organizations, and developing PSPDG’s future leaders.

Kai (She/her) is originally from Chicago, Illinois. After completing her undergraduate degree in biology at Brown University, she chose to purse her Ph.D. in virology at the University of Pennsylvania. Her work focuses on the biology of mRNA translation, RNA viruses, and host strategies to combat viral infectious diseases. As the science diplomacy chair within PSPDG, she hosts seminars dedicated to the intersection of diplomacy and science (pandemics, technology and AI). Along with other members of PSPDG, she is working to increase STEM student's proficiency in diplomacy, policy, and communication.