Arjun Shivkumar

Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley      

Arjun Shivkumar is from San Francisco, California, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Bioengineering and a minor in Education from the University of California, Berkeley. Arjun’s experience spans several impactful projects: designing assistive pickleball rackets for patients with mobility impairments, engineering a virus-based biomaterial for sustainable rare-earth element mining (published in ACS), and using CRISPR to identify treatments for metabolic disorders at Juvena Therapeutics. He also filed a U.S. provisional patent for an orally deliverable treatment targeting kidney stones.

After graduation, he worked as a Clinical Research Coordinator at UCSF Ophthalmology, where he led first-author clinical studies, prototyped devices to enable accuracy and precision of ophthalmic procedures, and contributed to published abstracts at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) conference. Additionally, he spent a week in Santa Rosa de Copan, Honduras, assisting in cataract and retinal care for remote and underserved communities.

Alongside his engineering work, Arjun built substantial clinical experience as a critical care EMT with Royal Ambulance and Rock Medicine, providing emergency care throughout the Bay Area and leading clinical teams at the San Francisco 49ers games. Beyond his academic and clinical pursuits, Arjun is passionate about service and mentorship. He founded the Berkeley chapter of ACEing Autism, leading 25 volunteers to teach tennis to children with autism, and later founded a new course at UC Berkeley exploring sports as therapy for neurological conditions. He has also tutored incarcerated youth at the Alameda County Juvenile Hall, helping students achieve 4.0 GPAs and acceptances to top universities.

Arjun chose the EnMed program to continue merging his engineering training with clinical practice, aiming to design and implement medical technologies that directly improve patient care and access. His interests include surgery, handheld medical devices, bioelectronics, and cost-effective solutions.

In his free time, Arjun enjoys staying active and exploring the outdoors, whether he’s learning to surf, hiking new trails, or playing soccer and tennis. An Eagle Scout, he also has a passion for travel and has visited several countries around the world, including memorable trips to Kenya, Seychelles, and Costa Rica.