Working with Dr. Fedor Amador (head of the the "Health" program) in designing instructions for the program.

HLT4303: The Obesity Epidemic

Under the supervision of Dr. Olvera E. Norma, I have joined the BOUCE team. on Health and Education in minority groups. The team does a community-based health initiatives focused on improving the health and well-being of Hispanic and African American families.

Research Assistant with Dr. Jennifer Cromley in designing a research study and writing a draft on GenAI and inferences using think aloud strategy while reading essays.

Research Assistantship under Genomics and Eco-evolution of Multi-Scale Symbioses (GEMS) National Science Foundation (NSF) Biology Integration Institute (BII)- Curriculum development for K-12 students aligned with Next Generation Science Standard (NGSS) and lesson plans for STEM outreach activities (Full STEAM Ahead and CyC). - Translating GEMS laboratory science into classroom science, meaningful for K-12 students. - Writing a manuscript on ‘Multiple ways of knowing science like Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)’.- Engage in collaborative efforts with science and education graduate students within interdisciplinary teams to jointly develop educational units.- Designed and conducted professional development (PD) sessions for K-12 school science teachers.Awards and Recognition:- Secured GEMS SEED Funding ($5,000) to investigate the collaborative dynamics of interdisciplinary design teams in developing curricula during professional development.

- Exploring self-compassion's impact on well-being and its correlation in international graduate and undergraduate students at US universities- Data collection from approximately 200 participants- Examining variations based on aspects (e.g., psychological well-being) and potential moderators like gender and location

During my engagement with the Siebel Center for Design, I actively participated in crafting a summer camp program tailored for teenagers, centering on the principles of human-centered design and engineering. In a pivotal capacity, I conducted comprehensive data collection and analysis, contributing through:- Pre and Post Surveys: I orchestrated pre and post surveys, complete with consent forms, strategically designed to extract valuable insights from the camp participants. These surveys served as a crucial tool in assessing the educational impact of the camp.- Human-Centered Design Process: Leveraging the tenets of human-centered design, I spearheaded the execution of in-depth user interviews and a contextual inquiry, involving observations spanning two weeks. This immersive approach facilitated a profound understanding of the teens' experiences and needs.Impact report: Data collection and analysis from the camp helped in creating the impact report which functions as a record detailing the planned activities, the actual occurrences, insights gained, and modifications made based on lessons learned and feedback from prior iterations.My involvement with WYSE Camps further emphasized the significance of human-centered design principles involving human-centric mindset through understanding, synthesizing, ideating, prototyping, and reflecting processes in educational settings. It was a gratifying experience to contribute to the success and influence of a program that empowers young minds through the lenses of engineering and design thinking.

Teaching Responsibilities:- Instructed biology to middle and high school students through both virtual and in-person platforms.- Conducted doubt-clearing sessions and special classes for Science Olympiad aspirants (NTSE, NSO).- Prepared and reviewed practice question papers for Science Olympiad participants.- Managed an annual average of 700 students across 14 batches from three different countries.- Graded continuous weekly assignments and provided feedback through formative and summative assessments.Content Development Responsibilities:- Developed digital platform content for online students.- Contributed to curriculum development for Aakash biology study materials.- Created content and activities for the "Knowledge Bytes" STEM monthly magazine.- Conducted demo classes for schools to showcase curriculum content and teaching pedagogy for potential collaborations.Mentoring and Pedagogical Responsibilities:- Facilitated parents' and teachers' meetings.- Mentored students on both academic subjects and mental wellness.- Provided guidance to parents on motivating and supporting their wards in academics using various strategies.- Led a project focused on enhancing Performance-based Pedagogy to elevate students' epistemology and classroom engagement.- Participated in the recruitment process by interviewing new teacher candidates.- Mentored new faculty members on effective teaching pedagogy.

Creating content and crafting activities for a student magazine titled "Nature Notebook - Forest Preserves of Cook County," aimed at enriching students' understanding of soil-related phenomena, including decomposition, the dust bowl, and gardening.

Cloning and over-expression of Formin A protein in Leishmania major. Since Leishmania major is a very primitive organism, not much is known about its proteins such as formin. Hence my experiment was to study and know more about Formin A's function in their cytoskeleton system in by applying Polymerase Chain Reaction, Transformation, Gel electrophoresis, SDS-PAGE, in the Cytoskeleton lab.