Only on annual visits to India was Avantika Gokulnatha able to help care for her now late grandfather as his health failed. But the San Jose resident endeavored to help others near her.

Gokulnatha did just that as she studied biological sciences, majored in genetics and genomics, and researched aging at the University of California, Davis. She volunteered with a local hospice, revived a student organization to help seniors with technology, and led other undergraduate volunteers at a clinic providing free medical care to uninsured and marginalized people.

Gokulnatha will be recognized as the top graduating senior at UC Davis when thousands celebrate earning a bachelor’s degree at five commencements at Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center June 13-15. She will be awarded the University Medal — for excellence in undergraduate studies, outstanding community service, and the promise of future scholarship and contributions to society — and a Bachelor of Science in genetics and genomics at the 9 a.m. ceremony Saturday.

“I’ve had a simply phenomenal time,” Gokulnatha said.

Now she is on the path to medical studies. “My mission as a future physician-scientist is to transform aging from an inevitable decline to a manageable process, where older adults can maintain their independence and health for as long as possible,” she wrote in her applications for the medal.

Taking a gap year as she applies for medical school, Gokulnatha has accepted a Fulbright U.S. Student Program award to fund study at the Max Planck Institute for the Biology of Ageing in Cologne, Germany.

Research experience

Gokulnatha said she chose to study at UC Davis because of its medical school, the Genome Center, and a genetics and genomics major unique in the UC system. The campus awarded her the $7,500-a-year renewable Regents Scholarship and a place in its University Honors Program.

Since the spring of her first year, Gokulnatha has been a research intern in the lab of Paul Knoepfler, a professor in the School of Medicine’s Department of Cell Biology and Human Anatomy. It studies epigenetics, or how behavior and environment can influence how genes work, in stem cells and cancers.

For nine months, Gokulnatha worked part-time at the Center of Excellence in Diabetes and Endocrinology in Sacramento. There, she managed a preliminary study investigating the correlations between mental health and Type 1 diabetes management in pediatric patients.

In the summer between her second and third years, Gokulnatha was a National Institute of Health undergraduate intern at the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore.

Awards and praise

Along the way, she has garnered impressive awards. Last year, she was named a Goldwater Scholar, a national recognition for accomplishments in science, technology, engineering and mathematics as well as future potential. In the same year, the American Aging Association presented her with its Early Career Scholar Honorable Mention Award for significant experience and dedication in pursuit of a career in aging biology research.

There’s also appreciation from people like Jack McGruder of Fairfield, California. Breaking Barriers, a student organization that Gokulnatha led for two years, has helped him and dozens of others at assisted-living facilities and senior centers learn technical skills to reduce isolation and better connect with loved ones and society at large.

Gokulnatha and McGruder, who turns 96 on Monday, formed a special bond. She calls him Uncle Jack.

“In addition to being smart, she’s kind,” said McGruder, a veteran of World War II who worked as an electrical engineer and owned a company that sold computer peripherals. “She just helps you with a smile.”

Gokulnatha said her work with Breaking Barriers, especially spending time with McGruder, has been one of the most fulfilling things she has done. “We just really hit it off,” she said. “We’ve kept in contact over the four years I’ve been here.”

In other activities, she has for the past two years led and mentored the undergraduate volunteers at the Joan Viteri Memorial Clinic in Sacramento. The student-run clinic provides free primary medical care for underserved populations, including those who use intravenous drugs, work in the sex trade or identify as transgender.

Gokulnatha also provided care and companionship to patients and families facing life-limiting illnesses as a certified volunteer with Sutter Health at Home Hospice.

She said these volunteer experiences and relationships have given her a rare lens into the lives and existential questions that older and terminally ill people ask.

Gokulnatha asks the questions of herself and lets the answers guide her activities. “These are the things I think I should be doing and what will make me proud when I look back,” she said.