February 27, 2025
Dear Cal alums, parents, and friends,
Yue Clare Lou ’18, Ph.D. ’23 never thought about being a scientist as a kid. She was interested in performance instead. But chronic stomach issues — and her mother’s homemade medicinal concoctions — made her curious about the connection between food and health, she said in a 2023 interview with UC Berkeley’s Innovative Genomics Institute.
Today Lou is one of 20 students, faculty, and alums recognized for their achievements on this year’s Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list. The list highlights rising stars in 20 categories. Lou, who won in the healthcare category, cofounded Sift Biosciences, a startup spun off of her graduate research on the human microbiome that uses AI and high-throughput screening to create immune boosters for conditions ranging from cancer to autoimmunity.
Other alum recipients noted for their inventiveness include Arman Jaffer ’17, whose tool uses AI to help educators generate lesson plans and pop quizzes; Sonia Yang ’17, whose company is setting up sites that enable brand retailers to sell pre-owned clothing to customers and thus reduce waste; and Adam Uliana Ph.D. ’22, whose startup is inventing new systems for recovering minerals from wastes, such as platinum from spent catalytic converters.
Also being recognized this week are two alums who have made outstanding contributions to our students. The Grimes Engineering Center, the campus’s newest building opening this spring, is named after Michael ’87 and Janelle ’86 Grimes. Overlooking Memorial Glade, it is first a home where students will engage in expanded opportunities for collaboration and innovation. It will also host advising, tutoring, and career services, as well as academic and social events, for the engineering community and beyond.
I was dean of the Haas School of Business when the couple cofounded the Management, Entrepreneurship, & Technology (M.E.T.) Program, a dual-degree program between Haas and the College of Engineering. I recall the active role Michael played in turning the idea for the pairing into a thriving program that now has more than 400 students and alums. It’s fitting that a building dedicated to student success would be named after Michael and Janelle, and I’m honored to celebrate their contributions with the naming.
With all that is happening in the world, it’s imperative that we keep telling stories about our university’s remarkable contributions to society and celebrating the wins and points of pride, not the least of which is counting you among our dedicated Cal family.
Go Bears!
Chancellor Rich Lyons
Yue Clare Lou ’18, Ph.D. ’23 never thought about being a scientist as a kid. She was interested in performance instead. But chronic stomach issues — and her mother’s homemade medicinal concoctions — made her curious about the connection between food and health, she said in a 2023 interview with UC Berkeley’s Innovative Genomics Institute.
Today Lou is one of 20 students, faculty, and alums recognized for their achievements on this year’s Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list. The list highlights rising stars in 20 categories. Lou, who won in the healthcare category, cofounded Sift Biosciences, a startup spun off of her graduate research on the human microbiome that uses AI and high-throughput screening to create immune boosters for conditions ranging from cancer to autoimmunity.
Other alum recipients noted for their inventiveness include Arman Jaffer ’17, whose tool uses AI to help educators generate lesson plans and pop quizzes; Sonia Yang ’17, whose company is setting up sites that enable brand retailers to sell pre-owned clothing to customers and thus reduce waste; and Adam Uliana Ph.D. ’22, whose startup is inventing new systems for recovering minerals from wastes, such as platinum from spent catalytic converters.
Also being recognized this week are two alums who have made outstanding contributions to our students. The Grimes Engineering Center, the campus’s newest building opening this spring, is named after Michael ’87 and Janelle ’86 Grimes. Overlooking Memorial Glade, it is first a home where students will engage in expanded opportunities for collaboration and innovation. It will also host advising, tutoring, and career services, as well as academic and social events, for the engineering community and beyond.
I was dean of the Haas School of Business when the couple cofounded the Management, Entrepreneurship, & Technology (M.E.T.) Program, a dual-degree program between Haas and the College of Engineering. I recall the active role Michael played in turning the idea for the pairing into a thriving program that now has more than 400 students and alums. It’s fitting that a building dedicated to student success would be named after Michael and Janelle, and I’m honored to celebrate their contributions with the naming.
With all that is happening in the world, it’s imperative that we keep telling stories about our university’s remarkable contributions to society and celebrating the wins and points of pride, not the least of which is counting you among our dedicated Cal family.
Go Bears!
Chancellor Rich Lyons
Chancellor’s Choice
Event: Texts You Can Taste — Join Dr. Hélène Jawhara Piñer for a lecture, cooking demo, and tasting of traditional Sephardic foods. Hear how food tells stories about the Jewish Diaspora and learn about Dr. Jawhara Piñer’s research, including recipes she has collected from medieval cookbooks, Inquisition trials, and medical treatises. Purchase tickets for the event on Thursday, March 6 at 5:30 p.m. at the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life.
Event: Our Unshakeable Fascination with Cults — Join California magazine’s editor Pat Joseph in conversation with Poulomi Saha, associate professor of English, about the exploding interest in cults. Saha is writing a book, Enthralled, about America’s long obsession with “communities and philosophies that offer total belief and total enthrallment — even and especially as we might claim that we would never ourselves join.” Purchase tickets for the event on Thursday, March 27 at 6:30 p.m. at BAMPFA.
Event: Our Unshakeable Fascination with Cults — Join California magazine’s editor Pat Joseph in conversation with Poulomi Saha, associate professor of English, about the exploding interest in cults. Saha is writing a book, Enthralled, about America’s long obsession with “communities and philosophies that offer total belief and total enthrallment — even and especially as we might claim that we would never ourselves join.” Purchase tickets for the event on Thursday, March 27 at 6:30 p.m. at BAMPFA.