San Ramon Students Create Medical Research & Education Nonprofit

SAN RAMON, CA — A group of Dougherty Valley High School students are aiming to advance medical research among their peers with Crisis Gen, which has hosted more than 10 research workshops and started a student-run academic journal.

The group, which was founded by Dougherty Valley students Shrey Somani, Bhanu Doodi and Tharini Palle, runs monthly research workshops to teach research methods and processes to over 250 members. At these free workshops, students learn "foundational skills that support future publications."

Crisis Gen also hosts research competitions designed by professors and researchers, from Stanford and UC Berkeley in which participants receive an imaginary crisis, an imaginary budget, and three hours to come up with a theoretical proposal for containing and treating the epidemic.

The organization hopes to teach students how to solve real-world health care crises, connect students with research experts, and promote students with promising research careers.

"Through our organization we hope to expose kids to real-world research and empower them to make their own independent choices about their futures," co-founder Shrey Somani said.

Visit vireka.org for more information.