UCLA

Valerie Arboleda, MD, PHD  Valerie Arboleda earned the Toffler Scholar Award in 2023 at UCLA FIND ME ON Biography Valerie Arboleda was born in Los Angeles, California, to immigrant parents from the Philippines. Her parents were trained as physicians and moved to California to pursue board certifications and a better life. Dr. Arboleda spent the…

Andrew Holbrook, PHD  Andrew Holbrook earned the Toffler Scholar Award in 2023 at UCLA FIND ME ON Biography Andrew Holbrook grew up in Orange County, California, with an older brother and a younger sister. From early childhood through his teenage years and beyond, he’s always been an intensely curious person. He loved all the subjects…

Roch Nianogo, PHD  Roch Nianogo earned the Toffler Scholar Award in 2022 at UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health FIND ME ON Biography The middle child of three boys, Dr. Roch Nianogo grew up in Ouagadougou (pronounced “Wagadugu”), which is the capital and largest city of Burkina Faso, a country in West Africa. Dr. Nianogo’s…

CATHERINE PSARAS, PHD  Catherine Psaras earned the Toffler Scholar Leadership Award in 2021 at UCLA FIND ME ON Biography Catherine Psaras grew up in New Jersey. The daughter of immigrants, Catherine’s mother is from England and her father is from Greece. As a child, she spent idyllic summers in Greece, where she remembers eating figs…

Cindy Beard, PHD  Cynthia Beard earned the Toffler Scholar Leadership Award in 2021 at UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health, Epidemiology Department. Biography Cindy Beard was born in Darnestown, Maryland, a suburb of Washington D.C. The daughter of two mechanical engineers, Beard grew up exploring and enjoying the outdoors with her parents and her brother.…

Lara Yoon, PHD  Lara Yoon earned the Toffler Scholar Leadership Award in 2021 at UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health FIND ME ON Biography Lara Yoon grew up in Norcross, a suburb just north of Atlanta, Georgia. Her parents’ work in public health inspired her, and her eighth-grade science teacher was influential in her pursuit…

Daniel Tward, PHD  Daniel Tward earned the Toffler Scholar Award in 2021 at the University of California Los Angeles. FIND ME ON Biography Dr. Daniel Tward was born in Toronto, Canada. Growing up, Dr. Tward’s family encouraged him to pursue interests in multiple areas, and he developed a love of visual art and music. This…

Ira Hofer, MD, PHD  Ira Hofer earned the 2022 and 2020 Toffler Scholar at UCLA. FIND ME ON Biography Dr. Ira Hofer was born and raised in New York. As an undergraduate, he earned a Bachelor of Applied Science in Materials Science and a Bachelor of Science in Finance and General Management from the University…