cv

PhD

Neurosciences, Specialization in Computational Neuroscience

University of California, San Diego

• GPA: 3.734 / 4.000

BS

Neuroscience

University of California, Los Angeles

• GPA: 3.618 / 4.000

Postdoctoral Fellow

PI: Sreekanth Chalasani

Molecular Neurobiology

Salk Institute for Biological Studies

• Led projects investigating the decision-making and molecular regulation of defensive behaviors by Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes in response to Pristionchus pacificus predators.
• Integrated concepts from predatory imminence theory and prey refuge theory to build a behavioral framework that can be used to predict, elicit, and interpret Caenorhabditis elegans defensive behaviors in response to changes in various dimensions of perceived predation risk.
• Conducted behavioral experiments on genetic mutants and transgenic strains to identify changes in interdependence between signaling partners across stages of defensive behaviors.
• Supervised a research assistant.

Graduate Student

PI: Sreekanth Chalasani

Molecular Neurobiology

Salk Institute for Biological Studies

• Led projects investigating the decision-making and molecular regulation of foraging decisions by Pristionchus pacificus predatory nematodes in response to predator-prey competition with Caenorhabditis elegans prey nematodes.
• Integrated concepts from foraging theory, neuroeconomic theory, and intraguild predation theory to build a behavioral framework that can be used to predict, elicit, and distinguish between predatory and territorial motivations for attacking Caenorhabditis elegans.
• Conducted a screen of pharmacologically active compounds to identify signaling mechanisms underlying the switch between predatory and territorial motivation, using the behavioral framework to directly target decision-making processes rather than motor or sensory processes.
• Supervised three research assistants.
• Other projects
  • Co-led a project investigating whole-brain activity of Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes to understand how state-dependent network interactions gate sensory input at the motor and command neuron level.
  • Supported a project investigating neural regulation of hypoxia responses in Danio rerio zebrafish.

Undergraduate Research Assistant

PI: Mirella Dapretto

Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences

University of California, Los Angeles

• Conducted independent research investigating abnormal effective connectivity during emotional face processing in children with autism spectrum disorder.
• Applied dynamic causal modeling to fMRI time series data to estimate directionality and strength of coupling between brain regions during viewing of emotional faces.
• Developed methods for automating data entry of survey inputs from test subjects.

Undergraduate Research Assistant

PI: Jack Van Horn

Neurology

University of California, Los Angeles

• Designed graphical user interface elements for Invizian neuroinformatics software.

Undergraduate Research Assistant

PI: Susan Bookheimer

Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences

University of California, Los Angeles

• Scored eye gaze behavior of 36-month old infants with autism spectrum disorder and their siblings during social interaction with caregivers and strangers.
• Drew regions of interests to quantify how much time is spent looking at facial, body, and background features.
• Developed code for automated parsing of Tobii software output.

Undergraduate Research and Therapist Assistant

PI: Jeffrey Wood

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Semel Institute, University of California, Los Angeles

• Assisted in cognitive behavioral therapy for treatment of anxiety in children with autism spectrum disorder.
• Performed data entry of therapy intake assessments and patient questionnaires for analysis in SPSS.

Implementation Specialist

Starbucks Coffee Company

• Analyzed data and implemented strategies for optimizing the function of retail networks and public Wi-Fi in over 10,000 Starbucks stores across North America.

Application Reviewer

Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF)

Salk Institute for Biological Studies

• Reviewed anonymized applications from under-resourced undergraduate applicants, using a rubric that assessed need and career goals.

Developer & Presenter

Workshop: Thinking like a Scientist

Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF)

Salk Institute for Biological Studies

• Developed and presented a workshop introducing undergraduate interns to the values and philosophy guiding scientific research, and the principles of fostering a scientific personality resilient to failures and biases.

Mentor

Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF)

Salk Institute for Biological Studies

• Intensively mentored undergraduates from under-resourced institutions to perform independent research in a 10-week program.
• Mentee investigated the genetic expression of oxidative stress genes in prey exposed to various predator conditions.

Tutor

Chemistry

Monarch School

• Tutored chemistry to students impacted by homelessness to compensate for shortage of science teachers.

Mentor

Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF)

Salk Institute for Biological Studies

• Intensively mentored undergraduates from under-resourced institutions to perform independent research in a 10-week program.
• Mentee investigated the role of a serotonin receptor in the resilience of prey exposed to predator early or late in life.

Mentor

Biology Undergraduate and Master's Mentorship Program (BUUMP)

University of California, San Diego

• Mentored biology undergraduate students from underrepresented minorities.

Course Developer & Instructor

Course: Fundamentals of Statistics and Computation for Neuroscientists

University of California, San Diego

• Developed and taught a graduate-level introductory course designed to provide literacy and entry-level competency in computational techniques.

Teaching Assistant

Course: Introduction to Methods in Computational Neuroscience

University of California, San Diego

• Assisted in teaching a graduate-level course on mathematical foundations and applications of computational neuroscience methods.

Maximillian E. and Marion O. Hoffman Foundation Award

Paul F. Glenn Center for Biology of Aging Research Fellow

Salk Women and Science Award

Mary K. Chapman Foundation Award

Jesse and Caryl Philips Foundation Award

UCSD Neurosciences Graduate Teaching Award

Jesse and Caryl Philips Foundation Award

National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow

• model organisms
  • Caenorhabditis elegans (nematode)
  • Pristionchus pacificus (nematode)
  • Danio rerio (zebrafish)
  • human
• behavior
  • predator-prey interaction
  • foraging
  • chemotaxis
  • adaptation
  • exploration
  • egg-laying
• microscopy
  • brightfield/DIC/fluorescence
  • light/confocal
  • laser microsurgery
  • calcium imaging
  • expansion
• staining
  • immunocytochemistry
  • DiI/DiO (neuronal tracer)
  • Oil Red O (fat stain)
• pharmacology
  • drug screens using LOPAC 1280
  • neurotransmitters and associated agonists/antagonists
  • paralytics
• bacteria
  • culturing/incubation
  • streaking/spreading/plating
  • colony counting
  • spectrophotometry
  • transformation
  • antibiotic selection
• microfluidics
  • device fabrication
  • device operation
  • automated control of laminar flows
• molecular biology
  • cloning
  • DNA/RNA purification
  • PCR
  • primer design
  • gel electrophoresis
  • DNA/RNAseq
  • DNA/RNA quantity/quality assessment

• theories & frameworks
  • foraging theory
  • expected utility theory
  • intraguild predation theory
  • predatory imminence theory
  • prey refuge theory
  • information theory
• statistics
  • tests for nominal variables
  • parametric/non-parametric tests for one/multiple measurement variable(s)
  • ANCOVA
  • linear/nonlinear correlation
  • linear/logistic regression models
  • linear mixed-effects models
  • bootstrapping
  • data transformation
  • distributional analysis
  • power analysis
  • machine-learning
• image processing
  • image segmentation
  • image deconvolution
  • morphological processing
  • fluorescence intensity quantification
  • color deconvolution
• neural dynamics
  • time series analysis
  • dimensionality reduction
  • network analysis
  • network modeling

• scientific computing
  • R
  • MATLAB
  • Python
• image acquisition and processing
  • ImageJ
  • Zen
  • Streampix
  • Metamorph
• bioinformatics
  • APE
  • Geneious
  • BLAST
  • Primer-BLAST
  • Galaxy
  • UCSC Genome Browser
  • IGV
• OS
  • Windows
  • Linux (Ubuntu)
• Adobe
  • Acrobat
  • Illustrator
  • Photoshop
  • InDesign
• Microsoft Office
  • Word
  • Excel
  • OneNote
• Google
  • Drive
  • Docs
  • Sheets
  • Slides
  • Forms
• collaboration
  • Zoom
  • Slack
• electronic lab notebook
  • Benchling
• inventory management
  • Quartzy
• command line
  • BASH
  • Powershell
• web
  • HTML
  • Markdown
  • CSS
• typesetting
  • LaTeX
  • Overleaf
  • TeXmaker
• version control
  • Git
  • Github
• container
  • Docker
• IDE
  • Visual Studio
• data serialization formats
  • JSON
  • YAML
• diagramming
  • PlantUML