Panel of Experts

Panel of
Experts

Our ever-expanding panel of experts has some of the most illustrious and highly-acclaimed names from diverse backgrounds. They offer industry-relevant knowledge to our students and mentor them at different stages of the DiscoverSTEM program. Hailing from different domains, the experts guide students at several stages of the program. They resolve any queries, or doubts and help students gain better insights into their subjects.

These experts also guide our students in choosing better career opportunities and assist them in charting a plan to achieve their career goals. Interested and bright students also get this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have one-on-one mentoring sessions with the assigned expert.

All of these efforts are made so that DiscoverSTEM students broaden their horizons of knowledge and are well-versed with the latest industry developments.

Dr. Anthony Gregg, MD, MBA

Dr. Anthony Gregg is a world-renowned expert in Genomics, Genetics, and Biotechnology. He is a practicing doctor in Obstetrics & Gynecology and has served in various positions from Adjunct Professor to the Chief and Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Human Genetics at some of the top health institutions in the US.

Dr. Anthony Gregg, MD, MBA

Dr. Anthony Gregg is a world-renowned expert in Genomics, Genetics and Biotechnology. He is a practicing doctor in Obstetrics & Gynecology and has served various positions from Adjunct Professor to the Chief and Chair of the Obstetrics and Gynecology and Human Genetics to some of the top health institutions in the US.

He is a Past Chair of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Committee on Genetics and previously served in a liaison capacity to that Committee. He spent the early part of his genetics career exploring hypertension during pregnancy using transgenic and “knock-out” mice. He co-wrote American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics policy statements on carrier screening and non-invasive prenatal screening for fetal aneuploidy using cell-free fetal DNA. Dr. Gregg received his MBA from the Warrington School of Business at the University of Florida. Dr. Gregg served as the 13th President of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics.

Dr. Gregg is an avid researcher and has served on the review panel with the National Institute of Health, mentored several post-doctoral fellows across the globe, published over 45 research papers, written, edited, or co-edited over 11 textbook chapters, invited speaker at 140+ research events worldwide
More recently he contributes to clinical practice guidelines and national policies that focus on the introduction of genetic and genomic technologies into clinical practice. These contributions led to an invitation to Capitol Hill and an opportunity to speak at a hearing devoted to prenatal carrier screening in the US.
Dr. Gregg is committed to nurturing the next generations of Genomics and Genetics experts. Our Genomics, Biotechnology, and Health Sciences research labs run under his esteemed guidance.

Our “Genomics, Biotechnology, and Health Sciences” research lab run under his inspiring and able guidance.

Dr. Peter Guida

Dr. Peter Guida is a NASA-based molecular biologist who specializes in the field of radiation biology. He graduated from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1999 with a Ph.D. in developmental and molecular biology. He then completed a 3-year post-doctoral fellowship at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) in New York in the field of accelerator-based radiation biology.

Dr. Peter Guida

Dr. Peter Guida is a NASA-based molecular biologist who specializes in the field of radiation biology. He graduated from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1999 with a Ph.D. in developmental and molecular biology. He then completed a 3-year post-doctoral fellowship at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) in New York in the field of accelerator-based radiation biology.

In 2003 he joined the scientific staff at BNL and is currently a Full Scientist running a laboratory that investigates the effects of radiation on human neuronal cells.  In addition, he serves as NASA’s Liaison Biologist for the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory Program, which examines the potential health risks to astronauts from exposure to the charged particle radiation that is found in space.  He has published many research papers and is a peer-reviewer for numerous journals in the radiation and neuroscience fields. Dr. Guida brings extensive knowledge of molecular signaling pathways and DNA repair to DiscoverSTEM.

Dr Babar Bhatti

Babar Bhatti

When it comes to futuristic technologies, Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning – Babar M. Bhatti would be among the voices who undoubtedly command global authority. With unparalleled credentials to his name, Babar is a Thought Leader in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. He is an expert in Data, Analytics and Digital Product, an Entrepreneur & Startup Advisor, Author and Speaker.

Babar is Principal, AI Customer Success at IBM. Babar is co-founder of Dallas AI, a non-profit dedicated to education and networking of AI, a meetup group of over 3,000 AI professionals.

Babar also serves co-chair of Tech Titans AI Forum. Babar regularly speaks about Artificial Intelligence to executives and professionals. He has spoken and presented at Tech Titans Executive Programs, Harvard Club of Dallas, DFW Executive Connection, University of Texas at Dallas (Computer Science, School of Management), MIT Club of DFW, MIT Professional Development, Financial Executives International (FEI) and multiple Dallas AI events.

Babar was co-founder and CEO of MutualMind, a social media analytics company that served global brands such as IBM, American Airlines, Nestle, and Hilton. After MutualMind was acquired by Shapiro+Raj, he served as there as the Head of Digital. Babar is an advisor and mentor to many organizations. He has served as chairman, MIT Enterprise Forum of Dallas Fort Worth. He was author of a chapter in the book Cyber Security Standards, Practices and Industrial Applications. Babar holds dual MS from MIT in Civil and Environmental Engineering and Technology and Policy. Our “AI-ML and Autonomous Technology” research lab runs under his inspiring and able guidance.

Sanjay Soni – (Business)

Mr. Sanjay Soni is a serial entrepreneur and one of the pioneers of computer science and information technology in India. He is the founder of Izmo Limited, a publicly-traded IT company, listed on the National Stock Exchange of India.

He also founded Si2 Microsystems, a leading Indian manufacturer of high-end electronics for space and defense applications, and Hughes Precision Manufacturing Pvt. Ltd., India’s first manufacturer of military-caliber ammunition.

Mr. Sanjay has several innovations and achievements to his credit. He led his companies to be among Deloitte Fast 50 Company and Financial Times’ Fastest 1000 growing companies in Asia Award. He received a letter of commendation from Shri Rajiv Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India in 1989, for his book on Computer Science for college students.

He is the Member of Defence Advisory Committee – CII South India and Member of MSME Advisory Committee – FICCI South India. Mr. Sanjay is fond of mentoring students on topics like Startup, Business Management, and Growth Strategies.

Our DiscoverSTEM Entrepreneurship Program (DEP) runs under the able guidance of Mr. Sanjay Soni.

Dr. Bashoo Naziruddin

Leading the charge in biotech and healthcare advancements, Dr. Bashoo Naziruddin’s work has shaped the course of life-changing research work. He has been the Director of the cGMP Islet Cell Processing Laboratory at Baylor University Medical Center since April 2003. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the Institute of Biomedical Studies at Baylor University, Waco, Texas.

Dr. Bashoo Naziruddin is a translational research scientist with more than 30 years of experience in academia, the biotech industry, and the healthcare system.

His professional experiences include extensive work in life science research, teaching, mentoring, cGMP practice, and clinical and experimental islet transplantation. His current research is focused on “Immunobiology of human islet cell transplantation.” His specific research topics include the assessment of immune response in islet transplant recipients, the development of an optimal immunosuppressive regimen for islet transplantation, strategies to induce tolerance towards donor islets, and the identification of novel drugs to prevent islet rejection.

Dr. Bashoo Naziruddin has published more than 157 research articles in peer-reviewed journals and has co-authored more than 200 presentations at international/national scientific meetings. He has written chapters in four books on Organ/Cell Transplantation and has been awarded four patents on islet transplantation. He is one of the eminent personalities, who is regularly invited to deliver talks at reputed Institutions and served as a member of several national/institutional committees.

DiscoverSTEM is proud to have collaborated with Dr. Bashoo Naziruddin's Islet Cell Transplant Lab. Our research partnership agreement (MoU) allows our students to explore and experience research opportunities at the Islet Cell Transplant lab, which has some of the World's most advanced technologies and equipment.

Dr. Medhat Askar

If there is an individual who commands great respect and admiration in the field of Transplant Immunology, it has to be Dr. Medhat Askar. His academic qualifications, professional experience, and sheer weight of his work in the domain have earned him great laurels in the medical fraternity.

Dr. Medhat Askar, MD, Ph.D., MSHPE, FRCPath, is a Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Texas A&M College of Medicine, the Director of Transplant Immunology, Hematopoietic Cell Processing and COVID-19 laboratories at Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.

Dr. Askar is the President of The American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ASHI), Immediate Past President of The American Board for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ABHI), and a member of the Executive Committee of the National Boards of Directors of United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) and Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN).

He is also a Councillor to The Transplantation Society (TTS) representing North America, the Co-Chair of the TTS Education Committee, a member of the Laboratory Practice Committee of the International Society of Cell and Gene Therapy, and a Principal Investigator on several study protocols through the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR).

DiscoverSTEM students have this distinguished opportunity to carry out research activities at Dr. Medhat Askar’s Transplant Immunology Lab. We have signed a research agreement (MoU) with Dr. Medhat Askar, which allows our students access to world-class research facilities.

Mani Bhushan

Mani is currently based in India. He is currently working with World Resources Institute India where he supports the work in Bihar to develop climate-resilient and low-carbon development pathways for the state through stakeholders’ consultation, field visits, policy analysis, and more.

He has previously worked with the Confederation of Indian Industries, and Public Policy Research Centre in New Delhi. He has also worked with CDU Fraktion in the Berlin Parliament, and with a few Members of Parliament in India.

Mani is a trained Lawyer from Amity Law School, Delhi, and has completed his Master’s in Public Policy from Willy Brandt School of Public Policy, Germany with a specialization in Public, Non-profit management, and International Political Economy.

Mani is from Madhubani, Bihar. He loves traveling, reading, and volunteering.

Omar Syed

Over the past three decades, Omar has been involved with helping large organizations such as NASA, Yahoo, and Zynga build scalable, fault-tolerant, distributed systems for mission-critical applications.

Omar has also been involved with several startups, including the first matrimonial website and the first stock sentiment analysis website. In early 2016, he started Unblocked Inc., a blockchain consultancy company. In 2017 he organized the Shardus project to build a linearly scalable blockchain.

Omar holds a B.S. and M.S. from Case Western Reserve University with a specialization in Artificial Intelligence. Omar, along with his son, Aamir invented the strategy board game Arimaa and offered the Arimaa Challenge Prize to promote breakthrough research in AI.

Omar’s long-term vision is a world where everyone receives an unconditional basic income based on a stable cryptocurrency so that poverty and hunger are eliminated.

Jyoti Sudhir

A Graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10000 Women Program from the prestigious IIM, Bangalore, India, and a Masters in Human Development from Lady Irwin College, Delhi University; Jyoti Sudhir is the Co-founder & Chief Strategist of InventIndia Innovations Pvt. Ltd., an award-winning global industrial design and development firm. InventIndia is a leader for others in the Industrial Design Industry to follow an end-to-end approach to Innovative Product Development.

With an incredible track record of 20+ years in leadership, team, and organization transformation, Jyoti has held various academic, corporate & partnership positions across diverse industries including Healthcare, Education, and Finance. She currently mentors the Innovation & Start-Up Taskforce, Co-Chairs the Social Impact Taskforce, and is an elected State Council Member for the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Gujarat. She is on several advisory & mentorship boards and is a sought-after Speaker & Advisor.

Jyoti has more than 26 National & Global Awards and Honors to her credit including the Most Visionary Leaders APAC 2018, Women Power Winner 2019, National Entrepreneurship Award 2019 by the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Women Super-Achiever Award 2021, SME’s Empowering India 2021, Women in Tech 2022 to mention a few.

Venkat Yerubandi

Venkat Yerubandi is the Founder & CEO of Noblesoft Technologies – a winner of the prestigious Inc 500 award and one of the fastest-growing 500 private companies in the United States of America. Based in Texas, his company offers SaaS & nearshore solutions in the USA, the UK, Mexico, Spain, Argentina, and Brazil.

He has many awards and recognitions to his name. In the year 2021, he was honored with the “International Achievers Award” for his outstanding contributions. Earlier he was “Ernst & Young – Entrepreneur of the Year”, a finalist in the years 2008, 2011, and 2013.

An entrepreneur by passion, Venkat founded Noblesoft to make a difference in the world through technology. Whether it’s Supply Chain Management Artificial Intelligence or Algo Trading, he firmly believes that people come ahead of technologies. It’s no wonder that the Motto of Noblesoft is “Do Right”.
Prior to Noblesoft, Venkat founded Indova Capital, a financial capital markets company. He also co-founded and exited Vedicsoft, a software services company. Under his joint leadership, Vedicsoft won numerous awards, including:
  • NJBiz #1 Best Place to Work in New Jersey 2011
  • Inc 500 – Fastest Growing Companies in the USA, 6 years in a row between 2007 and 2012.
  • NJBiz – Fastest Growing Companies in New Jersey, 5 years in a row between 2004 and 2008
  • Silicon India – Top 15 Indian IT Companies in the USA 2008 and 2009
Venkat graduated from I.I.T. Chennai, India after obtaining his B.Tech. from N.I.T. Kurukshetra, India. He is passionate about mentoring entrepreneurs and stock market investors in the community on wealth creation and wealth management. He truly believes that “education” is the key to minimizing the wealth gap in society.
Our DiscoverSTEM Entrepreneurship Program (DEP) runs under the able guidance of Mr. Venkat Yerubandi.

Dr. Nadeem Vellore

Dr. Nadeem comes with a wealth of knowledge and experience in computations and simulations to understand the behavioral patterns of complex biological reactions. Professionally. Dr. Nadeem Ahmad Vellore is a computational chemist working for Janssen Pharmaceuticals (R&D division of Johnson and Johnson).

His research interest includes computational simulation of proteins trying to understand how atoms move to coordinate the fascinating biological pathways and in-silico designing of novel inhibitors (drugs) to target various diseases.

Dr. Vellore obtained his Bachelors from India in Biotechnology and his Ph.D. in Bioengineering from Clemson University, USA. He has published over 25 articles in scientific journals and periodically serves as a reviewer for many journals as well.

Saket Kumar

Saket Kumar has worked in investment management and investment banking focused on the energy and industrials sector since 2007. Presently, he serves as a CO-CIO and Partner at Cushing Asset Management, an investment firm focused on investing in listed infrastructure including clean energy infrastructure. In addition, Saket has also been leading the firm's fintech initiatives for the last couple of years.

In his previous professional career in investment management, he focused on investing in companies that enable the energy independence of North America. He has also worked in various roles at firms like Bear Steans and Citadel Investment Group.

He has an MBA in finance and accounting from Cox School of Business at SMU. He started his career as a marine engineer and has worked out at sea in the capacity of marine and naval engineer. He grew up in India, is an IIT JEE rank holder, and received his bachelor’s degree in marine engineering.

He was also awarded the President’s Gold Medal by the President of India for being the finest marine engineering cadet for the year 2002. He also received the Best Cadet Award from the National Maritime Day Celebration Committee of India in 2003.

Usman A. Ghani

A child prodigy who lived up to the expectations by sheer perseverance, Usman Ghani’s love, passion, and sustained hard work have today made him a role model for many. A lifelong consummate Science & Technology enthusiast, Usman’s first reading at age 4 was the life of The Wright Brothers.

He made a small camera as a hobbyist and indulged in science experiments with a lab set at home from his pocket money. He led the science society at school and college. Usman became a staunch follower of NASA and collected materials related to the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs, sharing it further with his school and college mates and teachers. Later, he donated all the materials to the college.

Fast Forward: Usman acquired 3 Master’s degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology within three years, one of these being Management of Technology with his deep interest in Aeronautics and Astronautics. He is a long-standing member of AIAA, AOPA, and EAA and an avid reader of Scientific American. Usman loves to mentor young minds keen on scientific inquiry and method and sees the future through his advisees’ eyes.

While pursuing his bachelor’s in mechanical engineering, he set up a Science & Technology Society and established an AIAA Chapter. He later assisted in setting up a Gas Dynamics laboratory and designed Aeronautics and Astronautics experiments for seniors.

Our “Aerospace” research lab runs under his inspiring and able guidance.

Dr. Shahin Iqbal

A versatile personality with experience and knowledge that cuts across domains and specializations is what truly defines Dr. Shahin Iqbal’s profile. He has 20+ years of experience in clinical and molecular diagnostics, global operations, quality, manufacturing, supply chain, R&D, systems development, and commercial and global service organization.

His expertise spans entrepreneurship, core lab automation, acquisitions and value expansion, program management, business planning & strategies, customer service, product design, development, and manufacturing of medical devices.

Currently, Dr. Iqbal is the Senior Vice President of Global Operations at BioGX, responsible for overall Operations, Manufacturing, Quality and Regulatory, Product Delivery, Product Development, Purchasing and Inventory Management, Business partnerships, and Human Resources. Before this role, he was responsible for designing and developing FISH automation systems at Abbott Molecular. Before joining Abbott, Dr. Iqbal was head of operations, quality, systems development, and IHC systems manufacturing at BioGenex in California.

Dr. Iqbal has an MBA and Ph.D. as well as a Masters in Electrical Engineering degree from the University of Texas in San Antonio.

Hari Kusumakar

Hari Kusumakar holds all the aces when it comes to Fintech solutions. He is an expert in developing and optimizing Fintech solutions for investment management applications such as stock investments, credit research, and real estate investments.

Since 2018, he has been working at Cushing Asset Management in Dallas as a Portfolio Manager. Priorly, he worked as an equity research analyst for Tiger Legatus Capital Management, a tiger-seeded long/short equity hedge fund in New York. Prior to that, he worked at Moody’s Corporation as a credit research analyst in New York.

Additionally, he has a strong educational foundation in finance, data science, and engineering. He earned his MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management; MS in Industrial and System Engineering from The Ohio State University; and BS in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.

Sanandan Sudhir

Winner of several Entrepreneurship, Industrial Design & Engineering awards; Sanandan (Sandy) Sudhir is an accomplished leader with more than 2 decades of experience in Team Management, Organization Transformation, New Product Development, Manufacturing & Market Differentiation. He is a true thought leader with a passion to create end-to-end products focused on IP strategy. Every conversation with him is a chance to learn, grow or even change the world!

Sandy is the Founder & President of InventIndia Innovations Pvt. Ltd. focused on taking new product ideas right through to prototype development and manufacturing. He is also the Founder of the Indian Inventors Association, a global platform for bringing all inventors & innovators together. Sandy’s patented product On2Cook – World’s fastest Cooking Device onboarded to BRINC Food Tech Accelerator in Hong Kong has been the most celebrated invention at CES 2022, Las Vegas.

An inventor at heart, he has 17 Global patents (granted) & more than 50+ applied for.
GE, Jarden, Haier, Dell, GSK, Shell, Tata, Temptations, Symphony, Eureka Forbes, Godrej, HLL, Voltas, Michelin, Clorox, Eton, Polycom, Whitney, Bio Medix, Dover, Arrow, Invixium, Amico are some of the big names that have been guided by Sandy’s Expertise – both local & global in relation to market differentiation, product design practices, consumer preferences & trends.

Sandy is the mentor to several start-ups, mid-sized and large corporations; a reason why Invent India is known as the Start-up of Startups. InventIndia is an Industry leader focused on filling the gaps that are essentially intellectual property, Crowdfunding, Certification, and Manufacturing as well as Logistics.

The Invent Group has 25+ domestic and global awards to its credit including the prestigious iF Design Award, Design Intelligence Award (DIA), International Design Award (IDA), A Design Award, Business Excellence Award, INPEX Award, India’s Best Industrial Design Studio Award (IBDSA), National Entrepreneurship Award (NEA), Best MSME in Services to mention just a few.

Hisham Ahmad - CMO

I am a 14-year-old freshman attending Brighter Horizons Academy in Garland, Texas. I have extensive experience with marketing, as I have been a part of various companies and mentorships. I graduated from the DiscoverStem program, allowing new doors to open up for me, and change the way I see things. The DiscoverStem program has also given me more experience with concepts such as patents, invention, and innovation, as well as inspiration to use these skills to help the world around us.

DiscoverSTEM founders Mirza Rizwan and Mirza Faizan have made history by becoming the first Indian to win the coveted George Washington Honor Medal from the Freedoms Foundation – USA.

Started in 1949 by former US President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Freedoms Foundation honors exceptional contributions of Americans towards communities in the USA. Generally reserved for the US citizens, the awarding organization made an exception to recognize the stellar research work and its impact of India’s Mr. Rizwan in designing and implementing a unique STEM & Innovation program for American children, thereby revolutionizing the education system in the USA.

Few of the other notable non-US citizens who have received George Washington Honor Medal include Ms. Margaret Thatcher (Former Prime Minister of United Kingdom), Lech Walesa (Former President of Poland and Noble Prize winner) and world-renowned Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. As the latest recipients of this prestigious honor, Mirza brothers join historically acclaimed group of citizens whose work and dedication advance the American ideals, the award letter says.

Some of the distinguished US citizens who have received this award for their stellar contributions in their field are Walt Disney, Astronauts Sally Ride and John Glenn, Capt. Sully Sullenberger, Athletes like Arthur Ashe, George Foreman and Tiger Woods and famous US educator Jaime Escalante.