Atharva Tyagi is a senior at Woodbridge Academy Magnet School in New Jersey with a passion for bridging science, medicine, and business to create real-world impact. He has completed more than 1,000 hours of research at Harvard Medical School, Yale, and the University of Chicago, working on projects in gene editing, cancer biology, and health economics.

Outside the lab, Atharva has devoted over 1,000 hours to service. He is an EMT cadet, project manager for the Castleman Disease Collaborative Network, co-founder of SMYL-Fit, a nonprofit offering inclusive recreation for children with neurodevelopmental conditions, and founder of the STEM Pathways Youth Initiative, which prepares students across New Jersey to explore careers in science and healthcare.

As co-founder and CEO of RAISE, a startup incubated through UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, he is developing an AI-powered diagnostic tool to accelerate rare disease detection. He also hosts The Bio Frontier Files podcast and Biofusion blog, amplifying conversations at the intersection of biotechnology, business, and policy.

A seven-time national Taekwondo champion and 4th Degree Black Belt, Atharva credits martial arts with shaping his resilience and leadership. He hopes to become a physician-innovator, translating discoveries from “bench to bedside” to improve patients’ lives.