Bioengineering and Biotechnology, University of California-San Diego
Translational Medicine, University of California-Berkeley and University of California-San Francisco
Originally from Cupertino, CA, Divek Toprani received his bachelor’s degree in bioengineering and biotechnology from the University of California, San Diego. He also has a master’s degree in translational medicine through a collaboration between the University of California, Berkeley and University of California, San Francisco.
Toprani joins EnMed with vast healthcare and engineering experience. He volunteered for several years in the pediatric emergency department at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego and also worked as a scribe in the emergency department at Palomar Health. He gained practical experience in a broad number of fields during his undergraduate career ranging from mechanical engineering (mimicking cardiac motion to reduce motion blur during a CT image using a CT phantom) to molecular biology (analyzing mechanisms of TDP-43 protein aggregation in ALS/FTD pathology). His senior capstone project focused on building a microfluidic device to delineate the mechanism of cancer metastasis using 3D cell co-culture.
In addition, as part of his master’s program, Toprani worked as a strategy consultant with Netic Health, a digital health platform that provides remote physical therapy. He says that the experience broadened his understanding of digital health platforms, and helped him think more creatively about ways to address common problems using a biodesign-adjacent framework.
Moving forward, Toprani hopes to continue to identify and address gaps in disease understanding and care through both engineering and clinical interventions. He is also interested in addressing disparities in underserved populations, medical education, as well as care of those with disabilities.
“EnMed provides a unique and exciting opportunity to integrate my two interests, learning medicine through the lens and perspective of an engineer while being surrounded by motivated and like-minded individuals,” he said. “The location in the Texas Medical Center provides proximity to an environment ideal for medical innovation. In EnMed, I hope to learn to become a physician while also progressing as an engineer and aspiring innovator.”
Outside of school, he loves to stay active by dancing, working out, hiking, or playing basketball, badminton, ultimate frisbee, or table tennis. He’s an avid fan of basketball and American football. On the weekends, you can find him exploring one of the many coffee shops in Houston.
