Maya Dave
Founder, CEO, Editor in Chief
Stanford Online High School
Maya Dave is the founder and editor-in-chief of Mind on Trial. At 13, she created the Neuro-Legal Case Analysis Framework, an original method for examining forensic cases through three lenses simultaneously: the scientific evidence, the brain science behind the behavior, and the legal outcome. That framework is the foundation of everything Mind on Trial publishes. An incoming 9th grader at Stanford Online High School, she built this publication before starting high school because she believed neuroscience, human behavior, and the law belonged in conversation with each other, and that no space existed yet to have that conversation at the student level. Mind on Trial is her answer to that gap. She is pursuing a future in academic forensic psychiatry, and everything she has built here is a direct reflection of that direction.
Board of Directors
Abbagayle Madanat
Mentor and Advisor
Abbagayle Madanat is a second-year law student at the University of Miami School of Law interested in how neuroscience and human behavior can inform more thoughtful, effective advocacy. Her interest began when she served as an Investigative Intern at the Palm Beach County Public Defender’s Office and saw how legal proceedings can follow years of unmet needs, missed opportunities for support, or misunderstood behavior. She has since explored these questions through work with the Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office Major Crimes Division and the University of Miami Innocence Clinic, as well as training through the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) program at the Mailman Center for Child Development. These experiences have strengthened her commitment to careful investigation, interdisciplinary learning, and advocacy that recognizes the person behind every legal matter.
Abbagayle is drawn to Mind on Trial because its mission reflects the kind of legal culture she hopes to help build, one in which science helps lawyers recognize context, communicate more effectively, and better serve the people they represent.
Rajiv Khanna
Mentor and Advisor
Rajiv S. Khanna holds degrees in biology, chemistry, and law, a path that has shaped three decades of practice at the intersection of science, federal litigation, and several aspects of constitutional law. As a Managing Attorney, he has spent his career representing scientists, engineers, and researchers navigating complex legal systems that were not built with their work in mind. That experience, translating between the languages of science and law in high-stakes proceedings, is precisely what drew him to Mind on Trial's mission of making that conversation accessible to the next generation. He serves on the advisory board as both a practitioner and a mentor, committed to the idea that students who think across disciplines will reshape how law and science speak to each other.
Francesca Cohn
Mentor and Advisor
Francesca Cohn is a published researcher and PhD student in the Department of Developmental Biology at Stanford University studying the genetics of host pathogen evolution in the David Kingsley Lab. She holds a double major in Integrative Biology (Evolutionary and Ecological Biology) and Molecular and Cellular Biology (Genetics, Genomics, Evolution, & Development) from UC Berkeley where she researched the enhancer grammar of the developmental gene Pitx2 using transgenic reporter assays in threespine stickleback fish. After graduation, she was lab manager for the Adrienne Correa Lab, where she studied the intersection of symbiosis, resilience, and climate change adaptation in scleractinian coral species. Her passion lies in learning about how we can transform genetics and foundational molecular evolution research into actionable solutions supporting conservation of critical marine ecosystems.
Abha Rai
Mentor and Advisor
Dr. Abha Rai is an Associate Professor at the Loyola University Chicago School of Social Work and an internationally recognized scholar with over 15 years of experience advancing mental health research for underserved populations, with a particular focus on gender-based violence. Her recent work integrates wearable technology and AI into mental health interventions, and she currently leads a mental health and healthy-relationships intervention for low-income communities in Chicago. A Fellow and board member of the Society for Social Work and Research, Dr. Rai has mentored extensively throughout her career, and her work at the intersection of mental health, behavior, and the systems that shape vulnerable populations makes her well positioned to guide students exploring how behavioral science intersects with the law.
International
Chapter - Italy
Emma Raucci
Chapter President and Operations & Partnerships Lead
Stanford Online High School and G.B Grassi
Emma Raucci is a rising 9th grader at Stanford Online High School, where she is studying Geometry, Intermediate Algebra, and Biology. She spent part of the summer at Phillips Exeter Academy, attending the Kind by Design program, where she explored how entrepreneurship can be used to create meaningful and responsible impact. She is also the founder and CEO of Aura, a soon-to-launch platform built around recognition and positive human behavior. Through Aura, she has already begun gaining hands-on experience in product development, branding, strategy, and understanding how ideas can be turned into real products and communities. Emma hopes to pursue a future in business and marketing, particularly at the intersection of entrepreneurship, technology, and consumer behavior. Outside of her academic and entrepreneurial interests, she enjoys creative subjects, and competitive sports, all of which have shaped the combination of creativity, discipline, and curiosity she brings to her work.
Chapter - Colombia
Gaby Saravia Vargas
Chapter President and Neuroscience Pairing Writer
Stanford Online High School, Crimson Global Academy, Johns Hopkins Center For Talented Youth
Gaby Saravia is an incoming 7th and 8th grader in 3 different online schools, taking different classes in each. She's interested in genetics, specifically heredity and how DNA shapes a person from the inside to the outside, with not one single detail left out. She has an insistent passion for teaching and has a Youtube channel in which she meddles in many of her interests. She posts videos on scientific topics, explaining them and is currently working on a book review series. She is also editing her debut novel, called The Names We Were Never Given. She loves creating moodboards and "printing" her mind on cork boards, mapping out her characters and their emotional journeys. She was interested by Mind on Trial because of the way it created a bridge between Justice and Neuroscience and the way it brought interactive answers into highly debated subjects.
Chapter - China
Anna Jia
Chapter President and Policy/Essay Writer
Stanford Online High School
Anna Jia is a rising sophomore at Stanford Online High School. She is interested in philosophy, history, neuroscience, and exploring the role of law and ethics in the continuous development of new scientific and technological innovations. Outside of academics, Anna plays piano and is involved in choir, art, dance, and tennis, as well as tutoring and volunteering. At Mind On Trial, she hopes to contribute her perspectives and explore the ways neuroscience and law are connected.
Chapter - India
Akansha Tiwari
Chapter President and Social Media Lead
Akansha Tiwari is a motivated and inquisitive high school student who's deeply passionate about neuroscience, forensics and research. She has worked with BioVagon Company and has an MSME recognized certification in some bioinformatics tools. She is also the founder of an international neuroscience awareness initiative and aims to make neuroscience education accessible, fun and less complex for underserved learners while addressing misconceptions and stigmas around the field. Through Mind on Trial, she hopes to explore and promote an interesting intersection of neuroscience and law, foster youth advocacy in STEM and show that young voices belong in Neurolaw conversations just as much as anybody else.
West Coast
Chapter - San Mateo County
Bella Chen
Chapter President and Lead Researcher
Stanford Online High School
Bella Chen is a full-time sophomore at Stanford Online High School with a deep passion for neuroscience, psychology, and disorders of the mind. As a student who loves to collaborate with others and share her knowledge, she serves as a Teaching Assistant for three OHS courses, teaches gifted students in a national math program, and competes on the OHS science bowl team. Outside of academics, Bella is an accomplished classical pianist and singer who has won a multitude of international piano competitions and was selected to perform with a regional honor choir at the 2026 WACDA conference. At Mind on Trial, she hopes to incorporate her music background with her love of neuropsychology, and inspire the next generation by making groundbreaking research more engaging and accessible for a younger audience.
Chapter - San Francisco
Angela Tian
Chapter President and Policy/Essay Writer
Stanford Online High School
Angela Tian is an incoming 9th grade student who recently discovered her passion for neuroscience, biotechnologies, and rights advocacy. Prior to entering high school, she has earned several middle school awards in science, math, and social studies. She has studied creative literature for over 6 years, with both long and short form fictional pieces in the making. Her pieces have been published twice in the Sentence Center and earned a Certificate of Excellence from them. In other words, she communicates her ideas through articles and diction. She has a burning passion for women’s and girl’s international rights and teen addiction awareness. As a member of Mind on Trial, she hopes the world will be able to recognize we cannot rely solely on written laws. While deciding the everlasting fate of someone, we must understand their human thought process, especially of developing teens. By analyzing the science behind the human mind, we will not only be able to investigate why crimes happen but also to prevent them.
Marianne Tzeng
Neuroscience Pairing Writer
Stanford Online High School
Marianne Tzeng is a rising sophomore at Stanford Online High School. She loves exploring the intersection between computer science and biology, especially genetics and neuroscience. Outside of school, you might find me building random projects, reading, or making music.
Chapter - LA
Maribelle Ganelis
West Coast Co-President and Policy Advocacy
Stanford Online High School
Maribelle Ganelis lives in Los Angeles, California. With a passion for psychology, neurobiology, and general biology, Maribelle loves to research medical and scientific ideas. As a creative writer and competitive speech participant, Maribelle combines her interests in biology with speech and creative writing, as well as publishing the novel Door to Fairy Forest. She recently gave a Tedx Talk, busting the myths of homeschooling.
Nina Haubner
West Coast Co-President and Editor/Designer
Stanford Online High School
Nina Haubner is an incoming 8th grader at Stanford Online High School. She is very interested in the philosophical working behind law and science ethics, and is currently drafting a novel about the latter. Nina is also fascinated with the human behavior shown in pop culture, and continues to explore modern neuroscience topics and cases. She holds a status as a Davidson Young Scholar, 2025 honor roll in AMC 8, and a Perfect Paper on the National Mythology Exam 2024. Drawing on discipline from years of competitive swimming, Nina is excited to rigorously examine the scientific backing of law and its impact.
Jasmine Ji
Lead Analyst
Stanford Online High School
Jasmine Ji is a rising 9th grader at Stanford Online High School, passionate about using her writing and research skills to discover how neuroscience impacts human behavior and the law. She plans on using her knowledge gained through being a Davidson Young Scholar, SAT tutor, and two-time recipient of the National Latin Exam’s Gold Summa cum Laude award to develop towards this goal. Jasmine is also an accomplished classical pianist who has competed and performed on a national and international level.
Aisha Omar
Lead Analyst
Stanford Online High School
Aisha Omar is a rising sophomore at Stanford Online High School and a Lead Analyst for the Los Angeles Chapter of Mind on Trial. She has interests in neuroscience, chemistry, cardiology, medicine, and medical ethics. She is especially interested in learning more about the brain and human health, as well as the ethical questions that arise in medicine and scientific research. Through her science coursework and research experiences, she has developed an interest in exploring how scientific discoveries can influence healthcare and society. Outside of academics, Aisha enjoys traveling, cooking, baking, and building miniature dollhouses. She is excited to join Mind on Trial to explore her interests, strengthen her analytical and writing skills, and engage in thoughtful discussions with other students.
East Coast
Chapter - Florida
Olivia Kaiser
East Coast President and Co-Lead Editorial Reviewer
Stanford Online High School
Olivia Kaiser is the East Coast President and Co-Lead Editorial Reviewer at Mind On Trial. She is a Stanford OHS student particularly interested in the application of science to the broader scheme of the law, as well as studying historical cases to analyze patterns of legal outcomes. Olivia is also a participant in both civil and criminal mock trial programs and competitive debate. With this initiative, Olivia hopes to educate psychology-oriented minds about the law and vice versa, given the inherent connection between the two.
Veronica Carhart
Chapter President and Visual Art/ Design
Stanford Online High School
Veronica Carhart is the Florida Chapter President and the Visual Arts and Design Lead of MindOnTrial. With her artistic skill and creative mind, she assists with advertising and manage the design aspect of MindOnTrial. Her goal is to ensure that MindOnTrial is a well presented academic website, as well as welcoming to the new readers of our academic papers.
Charlotte Haase
Chapter Co-President and Visual Art/ Design
Stanford Online High School
Charlotte Haase is the Florida Chapter Co-President and an Essay Writer at Mind on Trial. A student at Stanford Online High School, she has a passion for linguistics. Her favorite subject is Latin, where she has earned an award at the National Latin Exam. She loves writing and hopes to use her skills to help others discover and explore the meaningful connections between neuroscience, psychology, and the law. Outside of her academic studies, Charlotte also rigorously continues her ballet training, dancing over 35 hours each week. Her summer breaks are spent dancing with some of the most prestigious ballet schools around the world.
Helena Xue
Chapter Co-President and Blog/ Essay Writer
Stanford Online High School
Helena Xue is the Chapter Co-President and Blog/Essay Writer at Mind on Trial. Along with being an 8th grade student at Stanford Online High School, she is an avid reader of science fiction and fantasy, and currently co-writing a novel. Beyond academics, she is a nationally competitive tennis player, and co-host of the podcast "Journey with a Racquet" alongside her sister. Because of her experience with a heavily mental sport, she understands the ins-and-outs of psychology not only through the lens of science, but also through the real-life experience of coping with emotions
Angela Xue
Coming soon...
Stanford Online High School
Angela Xue is a 6th grader who’s been awarded several achievements in writing, and her experience of literature and law expands across all areas. Because of this, she was invited to do workshops to help kids understand the base of writing great essays and novels. In fact, she is in the process of writing her own science fiction novel with her sister. Furthermore, NASA eclips selected her video to be shared across classrooms all throughout the nation, and, not to mention, channels her interests in tennis and mental health through her podcast, Journey with a Racquet. To tie it all together, she attends OHS, a rigorous school where she attends multiple classes including physics and philosophy.
Chapter - New York
Adelie Zhang
East Coast Secretary and Content Editor
Stanford Online High School
Adelie is an incoming sophomore at Stanford Online High School and a psychology enthusiast. She loves studying personality theories and analyzing early child development, helping people understand the root of who they are. She is a competitive debater and the 2025 Runner-up at Stanford Invitational, 2025 National 9th Place Speaker, and the 2026 4th Place Winner at Stanford Invitational. Analyzing politics, psychology and the way our education system impacts children, Adelie hopes to make a difference through advocacy and empathy.
Carol Chu
Chapter President and Co-Lead Editorial Reviewer
Stanford Online High School
Caroline Chu (Carol) is a 7th grade student studying at Stanford OHS part-time. She also attends Carrie Palmer Weber Middle School located in Long Island, New York. Carol is enrolled in classes such as physics and philosophy, and outside of school she studies psychology. In fact, she became particularly interested in neuroscience and behavior through psychology studies. Carol has also been interested in law for quite a long time, and she comes to understand and stay on top of current politics. She is ambitious and also takes part in extra clubs and societies in OHS such as the Marine Biology Society and the Student Government.
Chapter - Maryland
Andrea Seale
Chapter President and Outreach/Essay Writer
Stanford Online High School
Andrea Seale is a freshman from Maryland, who is also a competitive golfer as well as an artist. Andrea has always been an avid reader and writer with an interest in psychology, neuroscience, and public policy. She is hoping to dig deeper into what truly shapes the ways humans think and act in this modern setting, and learn about human nature in an abstract as well as an empirical way. She believes this can be achieved regardless of the topics you write about, because each subject ultimately reveals something about the way society and individuals behave. Thus, she especially enjoys learning about how neuroscience applies in sports, particularly how the brain influences performance, decision-making, and resilience under different forms of pressure, hoping to one day help young competitive athletes understand more about their own brain so they can develop healthier and effective approaches to navigating competition.
Chapter - Pennyslvania
Elle Donlin
Chapter President and Writer/ Analyst
Stanford Online High School
Elle Donlin is an incoming sophomore at Stanford Online High School. She has a passion for neuroscience, chemistry, and music theory. She is interested in researching neurological topics on the adolescent mind. At Mind on Trial, she hopes that she can add her insights and interests to help solve problems. Outside of school, she is a musician, who is a first chair drummer at a local music school and part of a band.
Chapter - Massachusetts
Anjali Raju
Chapter President
Stanford Online High School
Coming soon...
Reika Fukushima
Public Relations Lead
Stanford Online High School
Reika Fukushima is the Boston Chapter President and Editorial Reviewer at Mind on Trial, and an incoming 9th grader at Phillips Academy Andover and Stanford Online High School. She is a youth advocate and student leader interested in philosophy, law, and political and cognitive science, and exploring the ethical implications of modern social and legal systems. Driven by her eleven-year background in ballet, Reika is also interested in investigating the niche intersections of neuroscience and dance. Drawing on her two years and counting in the SOHS core sequence, alongside her background in argumentative writing, article publishing and editing, dance, and philosophy, she works to make abstract concepts like morality, justice, and constitutional rights accessible to youth. At Mind on Trial, she oversees editorial review and chapter initiatives, helping guide article development, maintain publication standards, and foster interdisciplinary discussion among student contributors.
Chapter - Conneticut
Ren Yamaki
Chapter President
Stanford Online High School
Ren is a freshman at Stanford Online High School who is interested in finance, stocks, law, and ethics. In his free time he likes to go to they gym with friends and play basketball.
Central United States
Chapter - Minnesota
Marcus Chin
Central United States President and Lead Analyst
Stanford Online High School
Marcus is an incoming sophomore at Stanford Online High School and an aspiring lawyer. He's interested in how psychology and behavior interact with the law, which inspires his insights and views about complex cases. At Mind On Trial, he'll bring these insights and views together into complex arguments advocating for both positions. Outside, he's an avid D&D dungeon master, fencer, and Minecraft player.
Chapter - Texas
Catalaya Perez
Chapter President and
Christa McAuliffe Middle School
Cataleya Perez is an 8th grader at Stanford Online High School where she takes a philosophy course as a single course student. She also attends Christa McAuliffe Middle School located in San Antonio, Texas. Her interests include law, philosophy, and psychology. She loves learning about how to understand people. She loves debate and researching about politics. She is a major theater kid who loves to bring energy and support everyone. Through Mind on Trial she hopes to learn more about neuroscience and see how that affects the law’s decisions.
Marina Hou
Neuroscience Pairing Writer
Stanford Online High School
Marina Hou is an eighth grader at Stanford Online High School, where she takes multiple courses ranging from science to literature and philosophy. Her interest in neuroscience first developed from a project she completed recently, and she wishes to explore more about how environments impact behavior and the mind. She likes writing analytical essays of all kinds, but especially enjoys delving deep into artistic works and arguing about creative interpretations. Apart from her academics, she has nearly eight years of training in singing and has placed highly in multiple regional and other in-school competitions. She is also very committed to the performing arts, participating in her local musical theatre company and at the same time being part of the senior division in the National Children’s Chorus. Through Mind on Trial, she hopes to help expand both her own and other people’s understanding of the crossover between law, scientific evidence, and neuroscience.
Dhairya Paryani
Outreach
Cinco Ranch High School
Dhairya is a rising junior at Cinco Ranch High School in Katy, Texas, with a passion for neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and biomedical research. He enjoys exploring how emerging technologies can improve healthcare, particularly in the early detection and treatment of neurological disorders. His research interests include brain-computer interfaces, AI-driven medical diagnostics, and computational neuroscience.
Driven by a curiosity about the brain and its connection to technology, Dhairya enjoys working on neuroscience research and learning from researchers and students with diverse perspectives. Through Mind on Trial, he hopes to expand access to neuroscience education, encourage student-led research, and build a collaborative neuroscience community across Texas.
Chapter - Colorado
Rain Romman
Coming soon...
Stanford Online High School
Coming soon...