Salute a Veteran

Stanford University

USVH Stanford Chapter volunteers improve USVH through their leadership and inspiring ideas as this founding chapter continues to evolve.

Our USVH Stanford Chapter — our founding chapter — reached its 25th year of partnership with the Stanford University Haas Center for Public Service in early 2020. Stanford’s USVH is a Cardinal Commitment organization, and over its 25 years, our students have acquired over 50,000 hours of combined service.

Volunteer of the quarter

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    Elyse Hwang

    Stanford Program Director

    Elyse is a senior from Los Angeles majoring in Biology and History. She has been volunteering with USVH since her freshman year and has enjoyed being able to provide meaningful support and connection to veterans while hearing about their lives and stories. She has especially enjoyed spending time crafting with and playing music for veterans. In her free time, she enjoys journaling, listening to music, exploring new places, and spending time with friends and family.

     

    Akul Shrivastava

    Stanford Program Director

    Akul Shrivastava is a junior studying biology and data science with aspirations of pursuing a career in medicine. He began volunteering with USVH during his freshman year, for he wanted to give back to the veteran community and learn from their life experiences. Outside of school and USVH, Akul conducts neurobiology research at the Stanford School of Medicine, teaches health literacy at a local Title I middle school, and conducts quality-improvement projects with the Stanford Health Consulting Group.

     

    Joy Bang

    Director of Membership

    Joy Bang is a coterm student at Stanford pursuing her M.S. in Biology after completing her undergraduate degrees in Computer Science and Biology. She began volunteering with USVH during her sophomore year and has especially valued the opportunity to connect with veterans, hear their stories, and learn from their experiences. Outside of USVH, Joy is involved in breast cancer research at the Stanford School of Medicine and volunteers with the Cardinal Free Clinics. In her free time, she enjoys exploring new cafes and restaurants, traveling, spending time with friends and family, and discovering new music.

     

    Kian Salimi

    Director of Advocacy

    Kian Salimi is a sophomore at Stanford University from San Francisco, CA. He got involved with USVH in freshman year and was drawn in by the meaningful interactions with veterans and other members of the USVH community. Among Kian’s favorite moments in USVH are discussing the stories behind hand drawn art created by a veteran and speaking with another veteran and volunteer in Spanish over a game of checkers. In his free time, he enjoys playing basketball and tennis, reading, and having deep conversations

     

    Deeksha Khanna

    Director of Outreach

    Deeksha is an incoming junior studying Bioengineering. On campus, Deeksha is involved as an undergraduate research intern, with Stanford EMS, and other volunteer organizations. In her free time, she enjoys listening to music and going on walks to enjoy the sunset.

     

    Evan Park

    Director of Outreach

    Evan Park is a sophomore majoring in Human Biology with minors in Psychology and Education. He chose to commit to helping grow USVH understanding that the VA patients would help him learn about certain disorders he's interested in learning more about like PTSD and TBI. In addition, he comes from a family line of army and navy veterans, which provided a personal tug towards USVH. Outside of USVH, Evan loves to be active as he volunteers with the local middle school, Palo Alto YMCA, and with Kids with Dreams either teaching health or swimming lessons. For fun, he loves indulging various sport content, reading hidden gem Goodreads books, and enjoying some K-pop hits. In the future, Evan would like to become a head orthopedic surgeon or sports neurologist for a premier sports organization or college like Stanford.

     

    Anish Alur

    Director of Outreach

    Anish is a sophomore from New Jersey who is currently undeclared. He has been volunteering with USVH since his freshman year and has found his conversations and experiences with veterans at the hospital to be among the most meaningful parts of his time at Stanford. Anish believes that the veterans who have served our country deserve the utmost honor, gratitude, and respect. As Outreach Director, he hopes not only to expand the program and its reach on campus, but also to work more directly with veterans through programming and community-building initiatives. Outside of USVH, Anish is active in musical groups on campus and is involved in neuroscience research. In his free time, he enjoys following politics, hiking in the Bay Area, and listening to music across just about every genre.

     

    Hannah Fung

    Director of Special Events

    Hannah Fung is a junior at Stanford majoring in Bioengineering with a minor in Medical Humanities. She joined USVH in her freshman year and has loved engaging with veterans and listening to their diverse life stories. Outside of USVH, Hannah is involved in neuroscience research, plays viola in the Stanford Symphony Orchestra, and loves playing badminton with friends.

     

    Kangyi Zhou

    Director of Special Events

    Kangyi is a sophomore at Stanford majoring in Bioengineering and minoring in Art Practice and Biology. She began volunteering with USVH during freshman year and has especially enjoyed connecting with veterans through the creative arts; she looks forward to creating more opportunities for veterans and volunteers to connect and build community! Outside of USVH, Kangyi conducts cancer immunotherapy and immunology research at Stanford Medicine as well as arting, exploring new recipes, and spending time with friends.

     

    Macy Gong

    Chief Financial Officer

    Macy Gong is a junior at Stanford majoring in Biology with a minor in Music. She began volunteering with USVH in her freshman year and has enjoyed interacting with the veterans and hearing their stories. Outside of USVH, Macy is involved with fibrosis research on campus and plays flute in Stanford Orchestras. In her free time, she enjoys playing music with others and spending time at home in the Pacific Northwest.

     

    Abdeljabar Alkhateeb

    Communication Director

    Abdel is a junior from inland southern California majoring in Biology with a minor in education. Abdel has been a volunteer with USVH since his freshman year and loves to hear the lives and stories from veterans in the VA. Abdel wants to use his position continue to expand USVH's reach and notability. Outside of USVH, Abdel is an advocate for health equity, improving education, and spends his free time playing basketball and weightlifting.

     

    Melissa Liu

    Communication Director

    Melissa is a CS coterm with a biology major and English minor. She has been volunteering with USVH since sophomore year and loves connecting with veterans through conversation, games, and art. She particularly enjoys learning more about veterans' upbringing and lives before the VA. In her free time, Melissa thrifts, sews, listens to rock, and reads ethnography, literary fiction, and science fiction.

     

    Jacob Chen

    Chief Technology Officer

    Jacob is a sophomore from Orange County majoring in Earth Systems and Biology, and has been volunteering with USVH since his freshman year. He has thoroughly enjoyed being able to give back to the veteran community, and listening to the wonderful life advice that the veterans have to give. Outside of USVH, Jacob is deeply involved with both wet and dry lab research bridging his two interests in the environmental sciences and human health at the Stanford School of Medicine, and volunteers as a medical assistant at a local clinic back home. In his free time, he enjoys weightlifting, playing Teamfight Tactics, tidepooling, and hiking.