2023 Awardees

The Pooja Way Champions

  • Sylvia Lin

    3rd Year Genetic Counseling Student

    Johns Hopkins/NHGRI Program

    Home Country: China

  • Saneela Ashraf Khan

    2nd Year Genetic Counseling Student

    University of Minnesota

    Home Country: Pakistan

Our Pooja Way Champions stood out among our applicants and received the highest award of $1,500. They found a way to exude many of Pooja’s traits including her humor, resiliency, and optimism. They have a strong vision for Genetic Counseling and impressively illustrated how training in the U.S. will help them achieve that vision. They told a compelling personal journey about the challenges they have faced to train here in the U.S. Most importantly they have a strong connection to what Pooja stood for and we believe they understand the uniqueness and importance of “The Pooja Way.”

“I have been mentoring some international students applying to GC schools and I am passionate about continuing that and contributing my part in the future to the GC field, in general, and to the International GC community.”

— Sylvia

“Pooja, to me, represents a role model and symbolizes the spirit of individuals like myself who have chosen to leave their homes to pursue their passions.”

— Saneela

The Pooja Way Honorees

  • Alanis Quinones

    1st Year Genetic Counseling Student

    University of Washington

    Home Country: Puerto Rico

  • Nadezda Ivanova

    1st Year Genetic Counseling Student

    Sarah Lawrence College

    Home Country: Russia

Our Pooja Way Honorees also had a strong applications with compelling personal stories and a strong personal vision for Genetic Counseling. We felt compelled to honor their dedication to the process and share some of Pooja’s love and encouragement with them as well. Therefore, these awardees received a smaller award amount of $500.

“I aspire to build a future with increased awareness of the profession, where Puerto Rican students face fewer barriers to entering the field.”

- Sylvia

“Working alongside colleagues, using humor as a balm, in the face of adversity, and celebrating every small victory along the way became my source of strength.”

— Nadezda

The Pooja Way Crew

  • Mallika Venkatramani

    2nd Year Genetic Counseling Student

    University of Michigan

    Home Countries: Singapore & India

  • Rajeshwari Koti

    2nd Year Genetic Counseling Student

    University of Arkansas

    Home Country: India

  • Sofia Marrufo

    1st Year Genetic Counseling Student

    Northwestern University

    Home Country: Venezuela

  • Srinka Arora

    1st Year Genetic Counseling Student

    University of Rochester

    Home Country: India

In the spirit of Pooja’s love for others and her encouraging spirit, we also felt compelled to name a Pooja Way Crew and award a $100 Amazon gift certificate to each of them to aid in some of their school expenses. We wanted to honor the time and effort they put into their applications and thinking about “The Pooja Way.”