STEMForU
About the Founder
The Story
Samvrit Rao is the founder and CEO of STEMForU. He is an incoming freshman at Columbia University and a graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.
Growing up in the tri-state area and later moving from the Bronx to Virginia, he saw educational disparities firsthand, inspiring him to start the organization in 2020.
STEMForU received a 2023 3M-Discovery Education alumni grant and has benefited over 120 students by promoting critical thinking and problem-solving skills through innovative educational programs.
Outside of science, Samvrit enjoys reading and playing cricket, football and basketball with friends, bringing a well-rounded perspective to the organization's mission.
Columbia University Engagement
Actively participating in various Columbia organizations that extend the mission of service, research, and cultural enrichment.
Bronx Oncology Living Daily (BOLD)
Supporting cancer patients and survivors in the Bronx through education and resources.
Columbia Global Research and Consulting
Pro-bono consulting for nonprofits and social enterprises.
Columbia Bhangra
Columbia's competitive Bhangra dance team.
Columbia Synapse
Student organization focused on neuroscience and mental health research.
Recent Research Publications
Automated quantification of periodic discharges in human electroencephalogram
2024
Automated Medical Records Review for Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia
2024
Identification of Patients with Congestive Heart Failure: Automated Electronic Health Records Phenotyping
2024
Mechanisms of Intracellular Communication in Cancer and Pathogen Spreading
2024
Awards & Recognition
2025 National Merit Semifinalist
2023 & 2024 Virginia Junior Academy of Science Symposium – 1st place
2022–2024 Virginia State TSA – 1st, 2nd and 3rd placements
2023 JSHS National Finalist (Top 10)
2023 Regional Science & State Fair – 1st place in Biochemistry
Extemporaneous Speech Top 10 at the GMU National Tournament (2023)
America's Top 10 Young Scientists Recognition by 3M (2020)
U.S. National Champion in the International Geography Bee (Junior Varsity, 2019)
Indian Classical music performer at regional events (2015 – present)
Major Projects
In-vitro aided computational approach to identify preclinical drug targets to treat Glioblastoma Multiforme
July 2022 – March 2024
Uses omics analysis, in-vitro imaging and machine learning to pinpoint molecular drug targets for glioblastoma. Conducted at UTMB in Galveston, TX with one resulting publication.
Recognitions:
- • 2024 VJAS Symposium (1st place, Biotechnology)
- • 2023 Yale SEA outstanding project award
- • Mark Licata award for Biotechnology
BOREAS: Innovating Respiratory Care through Telemedicine
May 2020 – present
A unified hardware-software solution for capturing and transmitting breath sounds.
Recognitions:
- • Invited talk at the ISCB national computational biology conference
- • 2023 VJAS Symposium (1st place, Engineering)
- • 2023 VA Bio special award
Identifying Similar Whole Slide Images and Pathology Reports with Multimodal Machine Learning
May 2023 – September 2023
Uses graph neural networks and natural language processing to help pathologists find similar cases. Conducted via a virtual internship with Dartmouth Health and led to a publication.
Routine Remind
August 2021 – May 2023
An intuitive mobile app employing natural-language processing to aid individuals with social and cognitive impairments.
Recognition:
- • 2022 Congressional App Award for the Virginia 10th District
Understanding the Viral-Host Immune Interactions in SARS-CoV-2 Infection
2021 – 2022
Computational immunomics research to identify key immune mediators of COVID-19 disease severity. Conducted with collaborators at Karolinska Institute in Sweden.