Research
As a student researcher, I am deeply interested in understanding the intersection of social medicine, neuroscience, and global mental health.
Neuroscience
I perform neurodevelopmental research to investigate contributions of genes in specific neurons, and associated synapses, to neurodegeneration in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), one of the neurodegenerative diseases that affect 50,000 Americans per year, leading to muscle weakness, paralysis, and even death.
Image: Immunofluorescence staining of callosal projection neurons (red), which connect the two brain hemispheres, and nuclei (green) from a mouse brain at 3 days postnatal (P3).
Clinical Psychology
Since 2020, I have been working as a research intern at the Shamiri Institute, a data-driven nonprofit that develops and disseminates low-cost and low-stigma mental health solutions for Kenyan adolescents. My work includes
Assisting in the development and implementation of a randomized controlled trial of the Shamiri Intervention, a brief, low-cost, and culturally-appropriate intervention that focuses more on character strength rather than deficits for Kenyan high-schoolers.
Analyzing the prevalence and moderators of common mental disorders in youth in sub-Saharan Africa
Digitizing the data collection process by creating an online survey and data-entry system.