About Us

CSUBIOTECH’s mission is to develop a professional biotechnology workforce through collaborative CSU student and faculty research, innovative educational practices and partnerships with the life science industry.

CSUBIOTECH provides seed grant funding, organizes an annual biotechnology symposium, supports biotechnology-relevant curriculum redesign efforts and serves as a liaison for the CSU with government, philanthropic, educational and biotechnology industry partners. The program involves students and faculty from the departments of life, physical, computer and clinical science, engineering, agriculture, math and business at all 23 CSU campuses.

CSUBIOTECH’s Principles

Biotechnology education requires the integration of disciplinary knowledge, hands-on practice, and team-based projects. These experiences effectively engage and retain students who are the first in their families to attend college or are from communities underrepresented in the life sciences.
All students can build a solid foundation for successful life science careers by working on solutions for real-world problems with CSU faculty teacher-scholars in the classroom and on collaborative research teams.
Partnerships with industry professionals, alumni and biotechnology organizations support the ever-evolving life sciences industry and California's regional economies.
The CSU plays a critical role in California’s biotechnology ecosystem. It educates its professional workforce and innovates technologies that drive the growth and evolution of the industry.

Our Team & Collaborators

Presidents' Commission

President Jeffrey Armstrong, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
President Tom Jackson, Jr., California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt
President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval, California State University, Fresno (Chair)
President Ellen Neufeldt, California State University San Marcos
President Thomas Parham, California State University, Dominguez Hills
President Vanya Quiñones, California State University, Monterey Bay

Program Office Staff

Ikhide Imumorin, Ph.D., Executive Director, (619) 594-2510,
Pam Branger, Administrative Support Coordinator, (619) 594-2822
Tyson Gadd, Administrative Analyst, (619) 594-3954
R. Christine Montgomery, Student Program Administrator, (619) 594-1203
James Schmitt, Program Administrator, (619) 594-5299

Strategic Planning Council

Term Ending	SPC Member	Campus

2024	Monica Lounsbery, Dean Bori Mazzag Katherine McReynolds, Chair Miri VanHoven	CSU Long Beach Humboldt State University CSU Sacramento San José State University
2025	Michael Goldman Sastry Pantula, Dean Jackie Trischman, Dean	San Francisco State University CSU San Bernardino CSU San Marcos
2026	Michael Kauffman, Dean Christopher Meyer, Dean Dinesh Pinisetty, Dean Jeffrey Roberts, Dean	San José State University CSU Fresno Cal Maritime San Diego State University
2027	Deepali Bhandari Math Cuajungco Matthew Escobar	CSU Long Beach CSU Fullerton CSU San Marcos
2028	Paula Fischhaber, Deputy Chair Koni Stone Jinsong Zhang	CSU Northridge CSU Stanislaus CSU Chico

Faculty Consensus Group

Campus	Faculty Representative, Department, Year Term Ends (June 30)
CSU Bakersfield	Jesse Bergkamp, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2026) Sarah Forester, Chemistry (2024) Isolde Francis, Biology (2022) Amber Stokes, Biology (2026)
CSU Channel Islands	Ahmed Awad, Chemistry (2025) Alona Kryshenko (2025) Nitika Parmar, Biology (2025) Hugo Tapia, Biology (2025)
Chico State	Kristen Gorman, Biological Sciences (2025) Meghdad (Amin) Hajimorad, Electrical Engineering (2025) David Keller, Biological Sciences (2024) Jinsong Zhang, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2025)
CSU Dominguez Hills	Samantha Leigh, Biology (2027) Kari Pederson, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2025) Eillen Tecle, Biology (2026) Philip Vieira, Psychology (2025)
Cal State East Bay	Mikahl Banwarth-Kuhn, Mathematics (2027) Ram Kandasamy, Psychology (2026) Juleen Lam, Public Health (2026) Monika Sommerhalter, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2025)
Fresno State	Jason Bush, Biology (2025) Alejandro Calderon-Urrea, Biology (2024) Jacob Wenger, Plant Science (2024)
Cal State Fullerton	Math Cuajungco, Biological Sciences, (2025) Niroshika Keppetipola, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2027) Nina Robson, Mechanical Engineering (2026) Marcelo Tolmasky, Biological Sciences (2026)
Cal Poly Humboldt	Jenny Cappuccio, Chemistry (2025) Karen Kiemnec-Tyburczy, Biological Sciences, (2027) Jorge Monteiro, Chemistry (2027) Amy Sprowles, Biological Sciences (2027)
Cal State Long Beach	Kamiar Alaei, Health Science (2026) Shadnaz Asgari, Biomedical, Computer Eng. & Computer Sci. (2024) Deepali Bhandari, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2025) Peter Ramirez, Biological Sciences (2027)
Cal State Los Angeles	Mathias Brieu, Mechanical Engineering (2025) Susan Cohen, Biological Sciences (2027) Hyunsook Park, Biological Sciences (2026) Xin Wen, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2024)
Cal Maritime	Tomas Oppenheim, Mechanical Engineering (2023) Alex Parker, Science & Mathematics (2023) Julie Simons, Science & Mathematics (2023)
CSU Monterey Bay	Nathaniel Jue, Biology (2024) Ryan Luke, Kinesiology (2022) Steven Machek, Kinesiology (2027)
CSU Northridge	Karin Crowhurst, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2025) Paula Fischhaber, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2026) Melissa Takahashi, Biology (2027) John Valdovinos, Electrical & Computer Engineering (2027)
Cal Poly Pomona	Hyungchul Han, Animal & Veterinary Sciences (2026) Kathryn McCulloch, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2025) Vilupanur Ravi, Chemical & Materials Engineering (2024) Jamie Snyder, Biological Sciences (2024)
Sacramento State	Matthew Brown, Kinesiology & Health Science (2027) Robert Crawford, Biological Sciences (2025) Katherine McReynolds, Chemistry (2025) Kimberly Mulligan, Biological Sciences (2025)
Cal State San Bernardino	Jason Burke, Chemistry (2027) Jeremy Dodsworth, Biology (2027) Jeremy Mallari, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2025) Daniel Nickerson, Biology (2025)
San Diego State	Shawn O'Connor, Exercise & Nutritional Sciences (2023) Byron Purse, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2023) Manal Swairjo, Biochemistry (2025)
San Francisco State	Taro Amagata, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2027) George Gassner, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2027) Michael Goldman, Biology (2025) Weiming Wu, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2024)
San José State	Folarin Erogbogbo, Biomedical, Chem. & Materials Engineering (2024) Kasuen Mauldin, Nutrition, Food Science & Pkg (2026) Elizabeth Skovran, Biological Sciences (2026) Ningkun Wang, Chemistry (2027)
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo	Jean Davidson, Biological Sciences (2025) Christopher Heylman, Biomedical Engineering (2023) Rodrigo Manjarin, Animal Science (2025) Steven Wilkinson, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2024)
CSU San Marcos	Matthew Escobar, Biology (2027) Robert Iafe, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2024) Darcy Taniguchi, Biological Sciences (2026) Yuanyuan Jiang, Computer Sci. & Information Systems (2025)
Sonoma State	Lisa Hua, Biology (2024) Monica Lares, Chemistry (2025) Omayra Ortega, Mathematics (2027) Nansong Wu, Engineering (2027)
Stanislaus State	Cash Bortner, Mathematics (2027) Koni Stone, Chemistry (2025) Tricia Van Laar, Biological Sciences (2026) Janey Youngblom, Biological Sciences (2024)