RishaGuha

Student Neuroscience Researcher and Community Advocate for Health and Security

Del Norte High School, San Diego. I study Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and ALS, combining wet-lab experiments with computational modeling and machine learning.

Community Reach

People reached, in research and through community service

Honors

Each honor links to its official source and opens in a new tab.

Testimonials

Letters from the people I worked with on my Girl Scout Gold Award and the Student Empowerment Team. Select one to read it in full.

Research

Six projects researching Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, ALS, and synthetic biology, combining wet lab and computational experimentation.

All papers and posters

Community service

Advocacy efforts and leadership initiatives that left lasting impact on my community, ranging from healthcare to student empowerment to cybersecurity.

Read the full story

Girl Scout Gold Award

I built a patient-records and visit-tracking system for community health workers at the Power of Love Foundation in Matero, a settlement in Lusaka, Zambia. It is in daily use supporting more than 620 children and adults.

  • Serves an HIV care program of 550+ children and a mental health program of ~70 more
  • Named one of 50 Girl Scout Emerging Leaders in San Diego
  • Keynote speaker, Girl Scout Silver Award Ceremony, 2026
The project and a note from Power of Love

Student Empowerment Team

I founded my middle school's first student leadership body at Design39Campus. It is still running today.

  • Keynote speaker at 39X 2024, before 200+ educators and administrators
  • Presidential Volunteer Service Award, Gold
How the team started

CyberCEO

I co-founded and lead a student-run nonprofit in cybersecurity education, serving as president and director of curriculum.

  • 2,500+ students and senior citizens taught through CyberCEO
  • Second Presidential Volunteer Service Award, Gold
CyberCEO's programs

Additional recognition