I am a senior Physiology & Neurobiology and Computer Science double major at the University of Maryland, College Park. For the past two years, I have been working on an eleven-person undergraduate research team studying the effects of fetal nicotine exposure on inhibition of impulsive action by measuring single neuron activity during stop-signal task performance. I also study selection of the intrinsic disorder characteristic of proteins and regulation by intronic enhancers at the Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. I am currently applying to PhD programs in Neuroscience and Computational Biology, and looking to find a program that offers translational bioinformatics research to study gene regulation in and develop predictive models of human neuropathology.
Undergraduate Research Assistant
University of Maryland, Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
> Determining the type of selection involved in the intrinsically disordered characteristic of proteins (IDPs)
> Examining how the location of enhancers relative to the promoter affects the regulation in which that enhancer participates
University of Maryland, Department of Computer Science
> Grading assignments, programs, and exams for 60 students
Teaching Assistant for CMSC351: Algorithms
University of Maryland, Department of Computer Science
> Held office hours and conducted review sessions to guide students on homework and general concepts
> Corrected and graded assignments and exams for 200 students
> Gave 1-on-1 instruction via class forums and free tutoring
Biological Science Technician
USDA, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services
> Designed internal auditing systems for international finance agreements
> Analyzed cost and efficiency trends to help draft preclearance inspection policies
> Queried interception databases to draft invasive pest guidelines for US port inspections
Summer Intern
NIH, National Institute of Mental Health
> Measured upregulation by a signal transduction pathway in cortical cell cultures with SDS-PAGE and Western Blots
> Calibrated band intensities to quantify protein expression using ImageJ and Python regression scripts
> Composed and presented the paper "Western Blot Semi-Quantitative Analysis of Non-Canonical
cAMP-Dependent Protein Expression Induced by PACAP"
Editor-in-chief
Scientific Terrapin, Undergraduate Research Journal, 2012-2013
Global Impact Corps Volunteer in Kumasi, Ghana
Unite for Sight, 2012
Volunteer Teacher
SplashUMBC, 2012
Webmaster
Association for Women in Computing, 2011-Present
Organic Chemistry Tutor
Univerity Honors Program, 2011-12
Web Design Chair & Graphics Co-Chair
Scientific Terrapin, 2010-2013
At the National Institute of Mental Health
Paper (unpublished)
I contributed data collection and analysis to two papers: Holighaus et al, 2011 and Holighaus et al, 2012
Presentation
Poster
Awards & Grants: Dr. Michael Vacarro Research Scholarship
& the Isaac Newton Award
In the Gemstone Honors Program
Presentation (through 13 June 2013)
Poster (through 1 May 2013)
Awards & Grants: Howard Hughes Medical Institute - Gemstone Research Grant
Website
See our poster on Wednesday, November 13th at the Neuroscience 2013 conference in San Diego, CA.
At the Center for Bioinformatics & Computational Biology
Presentation: I will be giving a research in-progress talk on Thursday, August 8th
Other work: feel free to use my Unix and R + ggplot2 guides
Projects
In Spring 2013, I proposed, designed, and tested an interface for understanding blood test results with a team. Our work is presented on our website.
Reports
A few samples of my independent writing
Cardiovascular Lab Report for BSCI330
Comparison of two articles on ADHD animal models for ENGL390
Literature review comparing prenatal nicotine exposure to ADHD
B.S. in Biological Sciences: Physiology & Neurobiology
B.S. in Computer Science
University of Maryland, expected May 2014
University Honors Citation
Gemstone Honors Program
Team RITALIN: eleven-person undergraduate research team studying the effects of fetal nicotine exposure on impulsive action by measuring single neuron activity during stop-signal task performance.
GPA: 3.924
Languages
Java, C, C++, Ruby, Perl, Python, R, Matlab, Assembly, and OCaml
Web/Design
CSS, HTML, Javascript, PHP, mySQL, Apache, and Adobe InDesign
Applications
ImageJ, Unix, Eclipse, Emacs, and Git
Biochemical Assays
SDS-PAGE, DNA agarose gels electrophoresis, Western Blot, PCR, NMR, IR, mass spectrometry, spectrophotometry,
liquid and affinity chromatography
Animal Assays
IACUC procedures, non-survival cardiovascular recordings,
survival cortical electrode implantation, waveform analysis,
neural histology, light microscopy, tissue microtome slicing,
slide mounting, Nissl staining, whole animal perfusion fixation
Computer Science Departmental Teaching Excellence Award
Won after being nominated by my CMSC351 students.
Dean's List
Every semester since matriculation.
Primannum Honors Society
Combines Alpha Lambda Delta and Phi Eta Sigma honor societies.
Phi Kappa Phi Honors Society
Members consist of top 7.5% of class.
Banneker-Key Scholarship
Highest merit scholarship awarded by the University of Maryland.
Dr. Michael Vacarro Research Scholarship
Montgomery Blair Magnet award for dedication to research.
Isaac Newton Award
Washington Academy of Sciences award for outstanding research project.
Maryland Distinguished Scholar
State of Maryland scholarship for academic achievement.
National Merit Scholar
National Merit Scholarship highest award.
Team Competitions
Google Games DC: 2nd place 2012 & 2013
Microsoft College Puzzle Challenge: 3rd place at UMD 2013
Association for Women in Computing
I created and maintain this website.
Scientific Terrapin
I created and maintained this website, soon to be overhauled. See the issues for which I was graphics co-chair here and here.
SPLASH! UMBC
Projects: In Spring 2012, I gave a 2-hour minicourse on human evolution to high school students at SPLASH! UMBC. Feel free to use my slides and my species evolution RPG for high school to college students.
Unite for Sight
I gave this speech to many of the contributors to my $1800 fundraiser to support cataract surgeries.
During the reception following, I presented these photos.
These were based on the blog I kept to discuss daily life, Ghanaian culture, and global health delivery.
Notes
In challenging classes that pique my interest, I make study guides for myself and for friends who take the class after me. If you are taking these classes at the University of Maryland, feel free to use these notes:
BSCI330, Fall 2011, Dr. Ades
BSCI440, Spring 2011, Dr. Higgins
BSCI441, Fall 2012, Dr. Bierman (Cardio/Pulmonary Lab Manual)
BSCI338N, Spring 2013, Dr. Singer (condensed here)