Club Structure

Our structure is designed to achieve comprehensive growth and development for our members across all areas relevant to consulting, ensuring they receive a well-rounded experience, combining practical project work, skill development, industry engagement, and competitive practice.

Meet Our Executive Team

Co-President: Ammara Aqeel

5th-year PhD Candidate in Molecular Genetics and Microbiology

Ammara is a PhD candidate in the lab of Dr. Lawrence David. Her research focuses on developing novel molecular methods of characterizing human diet and the application of this platform to assess global patterns of malnutrition and food insecurity. Ammara has also holds a certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from the Fuqua School of Business and works as a Senior fellow at the Duke Office of Translation and Commercialization. In her free time, she loves going out for walks in nature, drinking tea with friends and watching cat videos!

Co-President: Yifei Wang

4th-Year PhD Candidate in Biomedical Engineering

Yifei’s research focuses on investigation of intracellular mechanisms to improve non-viral based gene delivery for DNA vaccine development. She joined Duke in August 2019 as a master student and continues her study as a PhD student since 2021. In her free time, Yifei enjoys Kpop dancing, playing board games, and watching movies. She is also a cat-person and loves spending time with her cat, Paper.

Pro Bono Projects Director: Jessica Guo

2nd-year MD Candidate

Jessica is an M.D. candidate in the Duke School of Medicine. Before coming to Duke, she worked as an associate at L.E.K. Consulting, working primarily on due diligences and strategy cases in healthcare, consumer, & medtech industries. Prior to working in consulting, she conducted research in behavioral neuroendocrinology focusing on the effects of testosterone on spacial memory. Jessica is passionate about the intersection of healthcare and business innovation. In her free time, she enjoys running, singing, cooking, and playing board games.

Director of Training Programs: Siyao Wang

5th-year PhD Candidate in Cell Biology

Siyao is a PhD candidate in the Department of Cell Biology. She uses zebrafish as model to study the impact of the interactions between nutrient utilization and innate immunity on the development and survival of organisms. In her free time, Siyao is an avid orchid grower and collector who also loves traveling and spending time with her two cats, Sesame and Cookie.

External Relations and Events Director: Caroline Teddy

4th-year PhD Candidate in Molecular Cancer Biology

Caroline is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology. Before coming to Duke, she worked at a Seattle-based biotech startup that aimed to find novel combination therapies for cancer patients. Her research at Duke uses functional genomic approaches to identify new drug targets for metastatic lung cancer. She is also a fellow in the Office of Translation and Commercialization and holds a certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from the Fuqua School of Business. In her free time, she enjoys brewery hopping, yoga, watching sports, and walking her dog, Filson.

Case Competition Director: Shamitha Shetty

5th-year PhD Candidate in Biomedical Engineering

Shamitha is a PhD candidate in Biomedical Engineering at Duke University, where she develops needle-free vaccines targeting chronic inflammatory conditions. She holds certificates in Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Fuqua School of Business) and Computational Biology & Bioinformatics, and serves as a PhD Associate at Duke Capital Partners, performing due diligence on investment opportunities and communicating key metrics. In her spare time, Shamitha enjoys baking, playing tennis, indulging in board games along with copious amounts of tea.

Pro Bono Projects Senior Engagement Manager: Gracie Kreissler

1st-year MEMS Candidate

Gracie is a mechanical engineering graduate student at Duke with a background in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research at UW-Madison focused on traumatic brain injury in the Franck Lab, alongside multiple biomedical engineering design projects. She began her industry journey at HMC Products, where she gained hands-on experience in CNC machining and welding before becoming a mechanical design engineer, leading a reverse engineering project to modernize packaging machinery. Now pursuing a certificate in Aerospace Research at Duke, she is passionate about structural design and human space exploration.

Pro Bono Projects Senior Engagement Manager: Lakshay Malhotra

2nd-year MEM Candidate

Lakshay is a graduate student in the Masters of Engineering Management program at Duke and a former Software Engineer at Oracle. With 4 years of experience at Oracle Cerner, Lakshay led the vulnerability management initiative, resolving and auditing vulnerabilities for the platform team. He is passionate about Technology and how it’s intersection with management and consulting can create a positive impact at DACC and in the industry. He is also a sports enthusiast and plays for the Duke table tennis club.

Pro Bono Projects Senior Engagement Manager: Naren Mehta

5th-year PhD Candidate in Immunology

Naren is a Ph.D. candidate in Immunology at Duke University, where he studies the genetic and epigenetic causes of T cell-mediated autoimmune diseases. Before graduate school, he conducted research to enhance T cell immunotherapies for cancer. He is passionate about leveraging functional genomics to uncover new therapeutic targets for autoimmune diseases and translating scientific discoveries into clinical impact. He is a recipient of the NIH’s NRSA predoctoral fellowship and holds an MSc in Biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, weightlifting, and exploring new foods.

Pro Bono Projects Advisor: Bradley Fox

1st-year MD Candidate

Bradley is a medical student at Duke and former management consultant at Oliver Wyman. As a consultant, Bradley advised healthcare companies and private equity funds on growth strategy, buy-side due diligence, and operational excellence. He is excited to review relevant takeaways or insights from working in the “real-world,” including trainings for DACC members on how to enhance their “consulting toolkits”.

CLUB HISTORY

The Duke Advanced Degree Consulting Club (DACC) was founded in September of 2012 by Jainil Shah, an engineering student seeking to provide resources and foster the skills of advanced degree students interested in the field of consulting.

Since then we have:

launched our own pro-bono consulting program to solve business problems in 51 engagements across 25 diverse markets and 18 innovative products, saving our clients $3M in consulting fees.

hosted multiple nation-wide case competitions with UNC-Chapel Hill and the Consulting Club at Texas Medical Center (The Southeast Healthcare Case Competition, formerly Duke-UNC-TMC Competition), attracting hundreds of students from over 30 institutions worldwide!

hosted guest speakers and alumni from top consulting firms in case interview workshops and interview prep workshops, providing networking opportunities with firm representatives.

About Us