BioPeers

BioPeers Program

BioPeers (Biosciences Peer Mentors) provide free and private peer-to-peer support for the Biosciences graduate student community. BioPeers are graduate students in their second year or higher who have volunteered to help their peers cope with the feelings of stress, inadequacy, or uncertainty that are often experienced during graduate school. BioPeers are trained to provide nonjudgmental support through listening, informal counseling techniques, and campus and community referrals.

The BioPeers program is intended to supplement and refer, not to replace, professional mental health counseling and support services such as those offered on campus through MHT, CAPS, and The Bridge.

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Program Structure

The BioPeers program is sponsored by the Senior Associate Dean for Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs and managed by the Office of Graduate Education. Peer Mentors are selected from among the Biosciences departments and home programs and serve for a minimum of one year. All BioPeers mentors report to Kathryn Musumeci, Associate Director for Biosciences Student Life & Wellness with support from Shelly Rasnick, Assistant Dean, Student Affairs, Well-Being and Inclusion.

Meet the BioPeers

Archana Shankar (she/her)

I was raised in India and came to the US for college. I went to Cal State Fullerton where I studied Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. I then came to Stanford as a CIRM Bridges Intern in 2017. After my internship, I worked at UCSD as a research associate before coming back to Stanford to join the Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine graduate program.

Transitioning to grad school during COVID would not have been possible without the support of my peers and mentors. I became a BioPeer to be a resource for others who are also navigating graduate school. Feel free to ask me about being an international student, rotations, picking a lab, applying for fellowships, home-sickness, imposter syndrome, life outside lab, and anything else.

Lindsey Mehl (she/her)

I am a recent graduate from the cancer biology program! I am from Chicago, Illinois, and did my undergrad at Northwestern University. I then worked at the National Cancer Institute for two years before coming to Stanford.

Please feel free to ask me about literally anything! Grad school is challenging to begin with, and grad school during the pandemic is quite a journey. I’d love to chat about mental health/wellness at Stanford, imposter syndrome, transitioning to grad school, moving cross country, living off campus, commuting to campus, coming to Stanford with a significant other, being mixed race/identity struggles, mentoring/teaching, rotations, choosing a lab, burnout, homesickness, or life in general. I hope to be a resource for anyone going through similar experiences and to learn from those with different experiences/perspectives.

Selina Pi (she/her)

I’m a student in Biomedical Data Science working on math models to quantify and predict the impact of medical decisions. Before starting my PhD, I worked in healthcare consulting for 2.5 years, learning to navigate the hectic lifestyle of New York City and trying to organize social events over Zoom. Outside of research, I enjoy listening to synth and indie music, playing piano and tennis, and writing funny skits. I wanted to be a BioPeer to provide a peer connection and resource for fellow grad students to navigate what can be an isolating experience – PhD students are more than our research and output but sometimes that can be hard to internalize! Happy to talk about fatigue, relationships, anxiety, resources on campus, transitioning from work back to school, time management and dealing with feeling not perfectly productive all the time, or anything that would be helpful to support you.

William Yu (he/him)

Hey – I’m Will! I’m a fourth year student in the BioE department interested in orthopedic cell and tissue engineering. I grew up in Maryland and did my undergrad at Columbia University, but before coming to Stanford, I spent three years as a Physics instructor at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. I really fell in love with teaching and now I also work as a co-instructor for BIOE296 – Promoting Effective and Equitable Teaching in BioEngineering. Outside of the academics, I enjoy playing violin, volleyball, tennis, squash, and video games! As a lil’ fun fact, I used to be a Twitch streamer back in the day 😀

I’d love to talk with you about anything happening in your life. I’ve definitely had many of my own struggles in mental health and wellness at Stanford, or choosing a lab, imposter syndrome, managing personal relationships, mentoring, teaching, burnout, and much more. I hope I’ll be able to lend you an empathetic ear and listen, or provide any advice if you’d like!

For more information about BioPeers, contact oge-helpme@stanford.edu or request a BioPeer Meeting.