I work in the office of the Scientific Director at The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, where I help to support the NINDs intramural program.

I served as a faculty leader for The First-Year Innovation & Research Experience (FIRE) program.Guided a cohort of 40 students through a 2 semester course-based undergraduate research experience.Led an experience for students that includes 1 hour per week in the classroom and 4-6 hours per week in the laboratory to teach hands-on training and related pedagogy.Organized classroom lectures and activities related to human subjects research, with a specialty in physiological recordings.Generated formative and summative assessments that help to probe and guide student learning in a meaningful way.Collaborated with other professional organizations at the University of Maryland, including the Senate Educational Affairs Committee and the Professional Track Faculty Committee.Coordinated and interacted with faculty leaders in other departments, programs, and research groups to facilitate events for teaching and student training. Created and managed a laboratory experience in line with institutional review board (IRB) processes for early career undergraduate scientists, including software/hardware training and setup, consent processes, data collection, data confidentiality and storage, and data analysis.

This is a contract position through Kelly Government Solutions - assigned as a Research Physiologist with the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), National Institutes of Health (NIH). Oversaw the setup, maintenance, training, and use of a variety of clinical neurophysiological equipment for the study of the pathophysiology of human movement disorders.Coordinated with nurses, doctors, and research fellows to maintain a chain of communication to ensure a positive, productive work environment and excellent patient care with regard to patient scheduling and logistics.Maintained patient confidentiality in written and electronic correspondence with regard to NIH policies, as well as proper source documentation outlined in research protocols. Generated and implemented lab standard operating procedures and subsequent data processing pipelines to collect, organize, and analyze data for research posters, publications, and clinical reports in a reproducible manner. Managed the outlining, writing, and editing of protocols and manuscripts by applying critical thinking and editing skills to assist with the generation of concise research documents both for internal (review boards, lab members) and external (scientists, clinicians, and patients) stakeholders.Presented a variety of content at lab meetings, including current project updates, literature reviews, and teaching courses based on my knowledge of data recording and analysis techniques.Mentored and advised student trainees with regard to research techniques and career goals by working closely with post-baccalaureate trainees to teach them more in-depth knowledge of research goals and activities while maintaining a balanced work schedule to avoid burnout.

The Alliance for Person-centered Accessible Technologies (APAcT) is a component of the National Science Foundation's Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT). It is a competitive, 3-year fellowship, delivering 3 years of tuition and stipend, and requiring additional courses, projects, and an internship. APAcT fellows work in various disciplines, including engineering, education, public policy, law, ethics, psychology, health science, and bioengineering, to engage in human factors related research and design. Was nominated as the student leader for two consecutive years based on my engagement and overall understanding of the fellowship’s goals and objectives. Organized a multi-day workshop and managed travel information for a trip to California State University for a combined retreat with partner institution California State University. Coordinated weekly meetings for 18 students to update on fellowship information and goals.Planned professional workshops and meetings to network, troubleshoot various academic issues, and facilitate collaboration with internal and external stakeholders. Facilitated conversation and training on how to apply person-centered design principles to all stages of the research design and implementation processes.

The human hand is an essential tool that allows us to engage objects in our environment on a daily basis. My research utilized non-invasive technologies to investigate how the brain controls the ability to use our hands. Performed an extensive review of primary literature to identify gaps in knowledge in the field, and subsequently designed and implemented novel research protocols which utilized non-invasive recording and stimulation technology, including electroencephalography, electromyography, and transcranial magnetic stimulation. As part of these protocols, I:Recruited and screened healthy human subjects to determine eligibility for experiment participation.Wrote sophisticated software code to collect, organize, and run statistics on experimental data.Synthesized data findings to generate new protocol hypotheses, write grants, and submit manuscripts and posters to well-known journals and conferences, respectively.Balanced time for classes, maintaining a 4.0 GPA for all semesters during graduate school while also keeping up with grant writing for funding purposes and experimental procedures to continue data collection.Took initiative to write successful grants and other related proposals to successfully procure funding for all remaining semesters, as only year one of graduate school was funded.

I investigated changes in the human brain linked to smoking behavior, as measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Coordinated and maintained longitudinal experiments in human subjects and rodent models, which lasted 1-4 months and required careful documentation and maintenance of procedures to ensure consistency across data collection days for all subjects. Independently prepared and executed lab preparation for organized daily operations, without direct supervision, being self-motivated and organized to ensure that all tasks were performed well and completed by end of day. Exemplified strong communication skills to recruit, phone-screen, and schedule experimental sessions with participants. Served as the direct contact during longitudinal studies, being responsible for gauging research compliance but also ensuring participant safety when receiving calls from participants with questions and concerns.Collected, organized, and maintained data for lab members, being responsible for understanding the data structure and ensuring proper collection. Created pipelines to manage data analysis and enable reproducibility of analysis steps from the raw data.