Humans of UCSF: Yvanka de Soysa

"I was born and raised in Sri Lanka where I first became fascinated by biology after reading 'The Selfish Gene' by Richard Dawkins in high school. I decided that I had to come to the US for college because I really liked the ethos of a liberal arts education. I enrolled at Smith College where in my first year I ran for class president using 'Vote for Yvanka from Sri Lanka' as my slogan, and won! While at Smith I realized that I enjoyed the thrill of discovery, and decided to pursue a PhD. Fast forward to the present and I’m a graduate student in the BMS program, working on cardiac reprogramming - I am fascinated by the mechanisms that control cell fate!"

Yvanka de Soysa

UCSF Graduate Division 2nd year BMS Student

Photographer: Hanna Starobinets