My Professional Experience!

EDUCATION The University of Illinois Chicago         Chicago, IL

Doctor of Philosophy in Statistics     Aug 2025 – Present

Relevant Coursework: Probability Theory, Applied Statistical Methods, Statistical Theory

                      The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL

 Bachelor of Science in Liberal Arts and Sciences in Statistics           Aug 2021 – May 2025

 Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Health Sciences: Health Technology                                               

·       Honors & Awards: High Distinction & Highest Honors; Dean’s List Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025

·       Organizations: Data Science Club, Women in Data Science, IlliniThon, Illini Statistics Club, Relay for Life

·       Relevant Coursework: Applied Bayesian Analysis, Statistical Learning Methods, Statistical Modeling, Statistics Programming Methods, Stochastic Processes

                        The Department of Statistics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL

                           Data Science Certificate   May 2024

·       Awarded for recognition for completing coursework that provides an understanding of the discipline of data science including exposure to data structures and data sources, statistical principles, computing and analytics, data management, and data science applications.

PUBLICATIONS Dey, A., Chang, H., Shaaban, L., Suga, A., Braden, G., Bustamante, A., Park, J., Zhang, S., Hu, Y., &

Hernandez, M. E. (2025). “Effect of Tai Chi Practice on the Adaptation to Sensory and Motor Perturbations While Standing in Older Adults.” Applied Sciences, 15(13), 7458. [link]

EXPERIENCE The University of Illinois Chicago         Chicago, IL

  Teaching Assistant                                                                                                                                                                   Aug 2025 - Present

·   Leading bi-weekly discussion sessions and office hours to support student learning

·   Clarifying core algebra concepts and provided one-on-one tutoring to strengthen problem-solving skills

·   Assisting in grading assignments and exams

                              Information Trust Institute Urbana, IL

                      Cybersecurity Researcher       Aug 2024 – Aug 2025

·       Producing Memorizer data analytics and reporting to ITI’s Senior Data Scientist.

·       Collaborating with other researchers to produce interdisciplinary research findings.

·       Using SQL, Python, and R to collect, analyze, and visualize data to improve cybersecurity.

                              Mobility and Fall Prevention Research Laboratory (MFPRL) Urbana, IL

                        Undergraduate Research Assistant         Oct 2024 – Aug 2025

·   Running analytics on data received from participants in research studies at the MFPRL.

·   Using unsupervised learning techniques to extract clusters and trends from subclinical balance changes in community-dwelling older adults using objective posture control data from the lab.

                      The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL

                      Statistics & Probability II Course Assistant       Aug 2024 – May 2025

·       Reviewed and assessed homework and exams to measure student performance in STAT410.

·       Analyzed student comprehension of advanced theoretical statistical concepts, including transformations of random variables, estimators, and moment-generating functions.

                        Beats By Dre       Remote

                      Research Extern       July 2024 – Aug 2024

·       Conducted consumer trends research on the audio industry and GenZ behaviors, from scoping to data analysis and participant engagement, to identify driving factors.

                      Information Trust Institute Urbana, IL

                      Research and Data Analytics Intern       May 2024 – Aug 2024

·       Analyzed data from Memorizer, a simple yet powerful tracing framework that keeps tabs on object allocations, data accesses, and function calls within the Linux kernel.

·       Assisted in creating methods and procedures for research-focused data collection.

                      Champaign-Urbana Public Health District Champaign, IL

                      Community Health Plan Intern       May 2023 – Aug 2023

·   Directly worked to support the efforts of community work centered on healthy behaviors, violence prevention, and behavioral health.

·   Aided development and implementation of the regional health plan for Champaign and Vermilion counties.

PROJECTS   Player and Team-Level Effects in MLB Batting via Bayesian Hierarchical Modeling Champaign, IL

                    STAT 431: Applied Bayesian Analysis         Jan 2025 – May 2025

Utilization of Bayesian hierarchical modeling to estimate true player batting performance during the 2023 MLB postseason, accounting for game- and team-level effects.

Learning to Vote: Statistical Models for Predicting U.S. County Election Outcomes       Champaign, IL

                    STAT 432: Basics of Statistical Learning         Jan 2025 – May 2025

Development of statistical models to predict county-level voting outcomes in the United States in presidential primaries using demographic and socioeconomic data.                                                                                                                                                 

                    Leveraging Protein Abundance Data to Predict Cancer Types Champaign, IL

                     Illinois Data Science Club       Jan 2024 – May 2024

                    Analysis of cancer data to predict cancer types based on specific characteristics. Linked Presentation

SKILLS    Python, R, SQL, Mathematics, Statistics, Health Research, Statistical Modeling, Data Science, Public Health