Chair of the Board

Aniyar Izguttinov, a native of Pavlodar, earned his undergraduate degree in Health and Human Services from the University of Sheffield in the UK. After working in the health sector in Kazakhstan, he pursued a Master of Public Health degree at the University of Washington in Seattle. In 2025, Aniyar completed his Ph.D. in Health Policy and Management, with a focus in Health Economics, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is the first Kazakh to be admitted to a PhD program at Gillings School of Global Public Health (#1 Public School of Public Health in the USA). His dissertation evaluated the impact of value-based payment models on low-value care utilization among North Carolina’s Medicaid population. Aniyar’s research uses quasi-experimental and mixed-methods approaches to evaluate healthcare interventions and policies. He is a recipient of the Bolashaq and Fulbright International Scholarships and was also a Muskie Program Fellow. Aniyar currently works as a Senior Research Scientist at Humana Healthcare Research.

At KAPNA, he serves as Chair of the Executive Board, leading efforts to build a strong and inclusive community of Kazakhstani scholars in North America.

Community Impact Associate

Adiya Rakymzhan, a native of Karaganda, earned her undergraduate degree in Physics from Nazarbayev University in 2017. She completed her M.S. in Bioengineering at the University of Washington in 2020, where she developed optical technologies for biomedical applications. In 2025, she received her Ph.D. in Bioengineering from the University of Pittsburgh, with a dissertation focused on the neuronal regulation of cerebral blood flow using advanced optical imaging and brain stimulation techniques. Adiya is the first ever Kazakh to receive the American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowship, a very competitive award that provides up to 3 years of research funding. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she studies brain states in humans using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG), and computational modeling.

Adiya is a co-founder of KAPNA and continues to be actively engaged in day-to-day activities of the Association. In her role as Community Impact Associate, she leads initiatives that extend the association’s reach beyond its membership. Her work focuses on developing programs, partnerships, and outreach efforts that positively impact both internal and external communities.

Professional Development Associate

Zhenisbek Tagay is originally from a small village in the Tashkent region, Uzbekistan. He moved to Kokshetau at the age of 8 and graduated from the local “Bilim-Innovation” high school in 2014. During his school years, he participated in and won numerous physics Olympiads at both regional and national levels. He pursued a degree in physics at Nazarbayev University, graduating with summa cum laude honors in 2018. He then completed a Ph.D. in Physics at Johns Hopkins University in 2024, with a dissertation focused on developing and utilizing high-precision optical tools in the terahertz range to study quantum phenomena in various exotic materials, including superconductors and topological materials. Zhenisbek is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Johns Hopkins University, continuing his fundamental research on material systems that could potentially serve as the basis for the realization of qubits—bits for quantum computing.

Zhenisbek serves on the Executive Board as a Professional Development Associate. He plays a key role in organizing events and supporting the academic and professional growth of KAPNA members.

Social Media Associate

Yerassyl Kuan, a native of Aktobe, completed his undergraduate degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Nazarbayev University in 2024. That same year, he began his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering at North Carolina State University. His research focuses on the development of bio-inspired self-healing fiber-reinforced composites for applications in aerospace, naval, automotive, energy, and civil infrastructure sectors.

Yerassyl joined KAPNA in 2025 as a Social Media Associate. In this role, he creates engaging content, manages the organization’s social media platforms, and ensures clear and consistent communication of KAPNA’s events, news, and initiatives to external audiences.