Yale Ventures is pleased to launch the first cohort of Yale Ventures summer associates, 14 Yale students from Yale College, Yale School of Management, and Yale School of Public Health who are working this summer to support innovations that impact the world’s greatest challenges. 

We're thrilled to welcome our first cohort of Yale Ventures summer associates. These talented and driven Yale students are working as an extension of our team, bringing with them fresh insights to our growing slate of innovation projects that support Yale entrepreneurs," said Amy Kundrat, Director of Innovation Community.

Yale Ventures Summer Associates work with six Yale Ventures project teams: Venture Lab, Roberts Innovation Fund, Innovation Community, Corporate Strategy, Venture Analysts, and the Center for Biomedical Innovation & Technology. With their diverse backgrounds and expertise spanning from life sciences and public health to consulting and finance, associates work closely with Yale Ventures staff and the broader Yale innovation community to generate strategic insights on projects and initiatives that will help accelerate the pace of Yale innovation and the commercialization of Yale research.

Meet this summer’s associates: 

Center for Biomedical Innovation & Technology (CBIT)

CBIT connects Yale innovators with critical funding at the earliest stages. Associates will apply valuable real-world skills in marketing and outreach while actively contributing to the Yale Rothberg initiative. As part of this role, students will receive expert guidance from seasoned professionals at Yale who specialize in the fields of marketing and innovation/entrepreneurship.

MiChaela Barker  

• Hometown: East Lansing, Michigan
• Education: MBA & MPH student, Healthcare Management, Yale School of Management & Yale School of Public Health, 2024 
  BS, Public Health and Environmental Science from The Ohio State University
• Past work experience: Nationwide Children's Hospital, Ingham County Health Department, Melanin in Medicine. 
• Summer responsibilities: Rothberg Catalyzer, Healthcare AI, Healthcare Innovation and Medical Technology, Data, Research, and Marketing.

Ryan Bose-Roy

• Hometown: New York City, New York
• Education: BS, Biomedical Engineering and Computer Science from Yale College. 
• Summer responsibilities: Working on various projects for the CBIT team while serving as a Computational Research at MacBrain Research Institute for the Yale School of Medicine.
   

Corporate Strategy & Engagement Office (CSEO)

CSEO associates work to develop private and industry sector connections and collaborations in support of Yale research and educational missions. Associates focus on cultivating, developing, and managing corporate partnerships that are aligned with Yale’s scientific, engineering, and healthcare innovators to advance discovery, research, and trainee development. 

Alex Torelli

• Hometown: Greenwich, Connecticut
• Education: MBA graduate, Yale School of Management, 2023 & BA, International Business from Dickinson College
• Past work experience: U.S. Department of Education, Uncommon Schools.
• Summer responsibilities: Corporate intelligence research and business development.

Innovation Community

The Yale Ventures Community Engagement Associate will source and promote entrepreneurship and innovation events, innovation stories, and community engagement on behalf of Yale Ventures. Associates will develop engaging content that highlights the E&I community for the website and social media channels as well as work with the community to organize, plan, and promote events across the entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem. 

Asher Barondes

• Hometown: Los Angeles, California
• Education: BA, Global Affairs and Energy Studies from Yale College, 2026
• Summer responsibilities: Developing editorial calendar, organizing and conducting Spotlight Series, and constructing an Innovation Toolkit designed to be a quick start guide to innovation and entrepreneurship at Yale.

Sonia Seth

• Hometown: Scarsdale, New York
• Education: MBA student, Yale School of Management, 2025 & BA/MD, Biology from Upstate Medical University
• Summer responsibilities: Working on business development for the commercialization of Yale University’s pharmaceutical, and device/diagnostic pipelines by developing, refining, and redesigning technology marketing assets.

Amay Tewari

• Hometown: New Delhi, India
• Education: BS, Computer Science from Yale College, 2023
• Summer responsibilities: Create the infrastructure for Yale Founders Database, build marketing tools for Yale Ventures, and create an Innovator's Toolkit for Roberts Fund Projects.  

Venture Lab Fellows

Yale Venture Lab is a new initiative launched by Yale Ventures in 2022 to accelerate Yale faculty ventures which have already established proof-of-concept. Working across six major themes (Therapeutics, Medtech, Digital Healthcare, Data Science, High Tech, and Climate Tech), graduate and professional students work with teams, including faculty innovators to develop project briefs and support a series of interactive coaching sessions.

Daniel Hope

• Hometown: Covington, Washington
• Education: MBA graduate, Yale School of Management, 2023  / BS, Aeronautical Engineering from United States Air Force Academy / MS Aeronautical Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology
• Past work experience: Air Force Officer (Developmental Engineer).
• Summer responsibilities: Assisting with bioprinting startup idea led by Yale Professor Michael Mak.

Meghana Chamarty

• Hometown: Durham, North Carolina
• Education: BS, Computer Science from Yale College, 2026
• Summer responsibilities: Assisting with miscellaneous tasks within the Venture Lab cohort.

Venture Analysts

The summer associate will work on researching, designing and helping implement enhancements to Yale Ventures’ investor network. Tasks include identifying and organizing our extended team's list of active VCs, and designing programs to expand the services Yale Ventures provides to VCs to connect them with deal flow of Yale startups. This role will help establish and implement an expanded Yale Angels program to connect angel investors with Yale startups.

Feli Oikonomopoulou

• Hometown: Athens, Greece
• Education: MBA graduate, Yale School of Management, 2014 & MJUr & LLB, Law from Oxford University and University of Athens
• Past work experience: Vice President at Bank of America (2019-2022); Subject Matter Expert at Goldman Sachs (2018-2019); Associate at Linklaters (2016-2017).
• Summer responsibilities: Foster VC connections and create a centralized resource on Salesforce by leveraging the knowledge and network of Yale’s broader ecosystem, including Tsai City, the School of Management, and the alumni network.

Aaron Turczynski

• Hometown: Rolling Prairie, Indiana
• Education MBA graduate, Public Policy & Sustainability, Yale School of Management, 2014 & BA, Accounting & Technology Management from Indiana University - Kelley School of Business 
• Past work experience: Monitor Deloitte - Strategy Consulting.
• Summer responsibilities: Consolidate best practices from Yale, Connecticut, and other Universities entities with Angel Investors. Consider Salesforce elements to capture for best use of tools for Angel Investors. Produce Governance Materials for Advisory Board as well as best practices. Produce framework for how Alumni can become active Angel Investors.

Roberts Innovation Fund Associates

The Roberts Innovation Fund at Yale is a new initiative launched in 2022 to accelerate Yale’s School of Engineering & Applied Science (SEAS) engine of innovation. The Fund’s student associates provide strategic and tactical support during the many phases of the award process. 

Rory Bonner

• Hometown: West Deptford, New Jersey
• Education: MBA student, Yale School of Management, 2023 & BS, Managing for Sustainability from Bucknell University 
• Past work experience: Product Management at SEI.
• Summer responsibilities: Go-to-market strategy for Roberts Fund companies.

Vivan Chong

• Hometown: Miami, Florida
• Education: MBA student, Yale School of Management, 2023 & BA, Human & Organizational Development from Vanderbilt University & 
• Past work experience: Senior Consultant at IBM
• Summer responsibilities: Focus on GTM strategy for Roberts Fund projects. Develop client-facing decks for potential customers and founding partners.

Siddharth Pratahkal

• Hometown: Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
• Education: MBA student, Yale School of Management & BS, Electrical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras 
• Past work experience: Product Management, GTM for an investor, Venture Capital investment thesis and strategy at startups.
• Summer responsibilities: Technical Product Management at an AI/Hardware startup, Investment Thesis on Generative AI with a VC, GTM for faculty-led projects at the Roberts Innovation Fund.

Celeste Watkins

• Hometown: Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania
• Education: MBA student, Yale School of Management, 2024 & BS, Biology from Franklin & Marshall
• Past work experience: 4+ years of Project/Management and Operations experience across manufacturing and software industry: CRRC MA, Charles River Analytics, and Cisco Systems.
• Summer responsibilities: Helping with commercialization plans for RIF awardees.