Anisha V.

Anisha is in 12th grade and has a strong interest in the STEM fields. She is a National Merit Semifinalist excelling by earning a 5 in AP Computer Science Principles (with a perfect score, placing her in the top 0.15% of exam takers), AP Computer Science A and data structures. She is founder and president of Tesla STEM High School’s CyberPatriot club. Anisha is passionate about projects that blend creativity with technology to enact meaningful change. She designed an automatic pill dispenser to prevent medication errors, using embedded systems. Her invention of a device to improve mobility for persons with Parkinson’s disease, which won multiple prizes at the state science fair, further fueled her desire to pursue a career in computer science. This drive has shaped her academic and professional aspirations to use technology for impactful, everyday solutions. In summer 2023, Anisha attended UC Berkeley’s ROAR Academy, UPenn’s Wharton Data Science Academy, and the Girls Who Code program, gaining skills in data analysis and web design. She also filed a patent and created a product website, www.pillpalusa.com, while learning about intellectual property and innovation. In 2024, she presented her work at an international engineering conference in Washington, D.C., where she earned Junior Scientist Recognition. She created "MediBorrow," an app built with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, to connect those in need of mobility aids with lenders. Her passion for storytelling inspired her to create WriterUnblocks.com, an online platform that fosters a community for fellow writers. During UC Santa Barbara’s prestigious Research Mentorship Program, Anisha conducted cybersecurity research, developing machine learning models to improve network attack detection while earning 8 university credits. She developed machine learning models for risk prediction and early intervention for Parkinson's Disease, winning Best Student Poster at the Annual World Congress of Society for Brain Mapping & Therapeutics in 2023 and second place in Biosciences at the Washington State Science & Engineering Fair. She presented her work at an international neurology conference in Philadelphia in 2024, where her abstract was published. In addition to her academic pursuits, Anisha plays the French horn in the Bellevue Youth Symphony and earned the Congressional Award Gold Medal for her volunteer work as a crisis line specialist with Teen Link. Looking ahead, Anisha plans to major in computer science with a focus on computational biology. She aims to create AI-driven models to improve treatments of neurodegenerative diseases.