To make a long story short, I don't know why I am passionate about natural foods and human health! I understand that's probably not the anticipated answer, but I've been passionate about natural foods and human health for so long that where my passion originated or what triggered my passion has gotten lost. My mom would say that it's because, as the first child, I was the only pregnancy during which she made an effort to eat well. I was spoiled from the womb! For me, however, it's been my passion from such an early age that it's become part of my identity. While other kids (my siblings included) craved and begged to have McDonald's fast food, I never did. It wasn't because I was a picky eater or simply didn't enjoy McDonald's food; it was my my personal decision to not eat it because I knew it wasn't good for my body. While other kids spent their iTunes money on music and games, I spent mine on an app called Fooducate that would educate me about the chemicals and nutrition of the food I was eating by scanning a barcode, an app I continue to use to this day. Although I cannot pinpoint a specific event that emboldened my passion for human health, I can certainly touch upon the activities and actions I have taken throughout my life to further indulge in my passion. They say that people who pursue their passion as a career are the happiest individuals, so I am currently pursuing my PhD in Chemical Engineering with the intention of pursuing a career in a national lab (e.g., Food and Drug Administration) or in the drug development industry. My thesis research explores fibers that grow in biofilm that resemble the fibers responsible for neurodegenerative diseases in humans, like Alzheimer's Disease. Relatively recent studies have proven the importance of food and nutrition on the maintenance of our microbiota; it's all interconnected! In January 2020, I gave a TEDx-style talk on behalf of the Rackham Graduate School at the University of Michigan during their M.L.K. Jr. Symposium. My talk (linked here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McszftMTFOk) discussed how the overuse and misuse of antibiotics in the food industry has led to the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, compromising global health. I've read books like "Feeding You Lies" by Vani Hari. Furthermore, to support my belief that everyone should have access to healthy food, I started donating to No Kid Hungry at the beginning of the pandemic last year. I am also serving as an insight panelist for their organization this year. My passion for food and nutrition is at the forefront of my everyday life, and my work. At this point, I feel compelled to mention: Olive oil is a staple in my diet. On my shelf, right now, I have a 3 Liter aluminum canister of olive oil. It gets used daily and I always make my own salad dressing. My current recommendation to everyone: Try 3 parts oil to 1 part lemon juice, salt, pepper, and a little squeeze of honey to emulsify. You won't regret it!

As a Chemical Engineering PhD student at the University of Michigan in the field of computational biophysics, I am no stranger to the impact that technology and computational innovation can have on society. In a field in which women are underrepresented, I also feel I have a responsibility to mentor and encourage other young women in my field, and share my experience and expertise. My PhD work uses and develops advanced analysis tools in Python, and employs molecular dynamics simulations to explore the structures and biological implications of nanostructures in biofilm and their interactions with nanoparticles. My work is an incredibly important research endeavor in the wake of the pandemic, as pathogens and bacterial superbugs threaten global health. In the past three years of my graduate studies, I have applied to 18+ funding opportunities through scientific organizations and have received none. I disclose this because, although computational biology has become more recognized over the years as an efficient and translatable research field, and has been incorporated into the research regimens at big pharmaceutical companies, computational biology is still an obscure field to many. Frequently, I am given the impression that others view computational research as a cheap and easy way to get answers when, in fact, acquiring computational time on high performance computing systems is actually quite expensive. Moreover, new methods are being consistently developed and demand investment. Another misconception about computational research is that it's purely theoretical and cannot have real-world applications. My research team works directly with a multidisciplinary and diverse team of experimental researchers to help inform their studies and provide a level of detail otherwise unattainable. With an unlimited budget, I would be able to run longer, larger, and more advanced simulations that would improve my research results and, no doubt, lead to some amazing discoveries. For example, in my current project, I am attempting to develop a model to represent a structural feature of biofilm. My results demonstrate that the larger the system simulated, the more precise the model; however, I am restricted in my ability to simulate large systems due to computational resource limitations. More than anything, though, I feel more money should be used to educate and recruit more young women and men to the field of computation in engineering disciplines. With an unlimited budget, I would travel to more conferences and share my research with the world, benefitting from resulting collaborations and others' insight in the process. I would also start a mentorship program at the high school level and petition high schools to modify their curriculum to not only offer more computer programming courses, but to also encourage minority groups to enroll. At the time I took my first computer programming course in high school, I was one of two women in the class. Furthermore, though the class taught basic programming skills, it did not teach a valuable programming language like Python, C++, HTML, or Java. Consequently, my first valuable programming experience didn't come until I was already in college and had chosen a major. According to US News, the high school I attended is ranked in the top 200 STEM high schools nationwide, with ~50% of the student body taking at least one advanced placement (AP) course. My high school had ~7k students and 250+ course options, yet the programming class taught an impractical programming language to enrolled students, only two of which were women. If this is the case at such a diverse and well-ranked high school as mine, it's probably more often the rule rather than the exception. It's incredibly disappointing, but high school students are capable of and should be performing molecular dynamics simulations and other computational experimentation. If a chemistry teacher can trust students with Bunsen burners, dangerous chemicals, and heavy physics lab equipment, there is no reason why they couldn't excel at performing computational simulations. I think funding is needed to train high school STEM teachers in computational simulation so that they can expose their students to even more scientific disciplines and research areas. If we can spark the interest of the next generation of computational researchers and close the gap in gender disparity in the field, the field of computational biophysics as well as many other computational sciences will greatly benefit.

I have always had a passion for healthy eating and nutrition. The FDA’s website was the default homepage on my Internet browser, long before I decided to pursue a chemical engineering degree; and while other kids spent their iTunes gift cards on music, I spent mine on an app subscription to educate myself about the chemicals in foods. The app is called Fooducate and I’ve probably been using it to study the contents of grocery store shelves for over a decade. Ever since my first poetry recitation in grade school, I’ve also loved giving presentations. Everything about giving a presentation is exciting to me, from the preparation required, making sure every analogy and anecdote is carefully rehearsed, to the thrill of commanding an audience, witnessing the engrossment on each person’s face. In eighth grade, my “friends” tried to discourage me from using a British accent for my oral biography presentation of J.K. Rowling, but I received a standing ovation from my teacher for that performance! Last year, I had the opportunity to combine these two passions. I was invited to give a TED-style talk on behalf of the University of Michigan Rackham Graduate School on the overuse and misuse of antibiotics in the food industry, during an event held in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. (King Talks event). To prepare for the talk (available on YouTube), I studied books like “Superbugs” by Matt McCarthy, “Feeding You Lies” by Vani Hari, “Steal the Show” by Michael Port, and “Talk like TED” by Carmine Gallo. I also perused the guidelines written by government legislators to regulate food safety and used the Internet to inspire my stories and punch lines. It was a fantastic experience to share my passion with my community and to have it recorded for an even broader audience. During the meet-and-greet following all the speakers' talks, I was approached by many alumni who had resonated with the sentiments I expressed during my talk, and encouraged my advocacy for better food and drug education. This experience has proven to me that I am a capable and effective advocate for food and drug research. As an aspiring scientists, this was reassuring because the research I conduct for my thesis also pertains to the inefficacy of antibiotics against biofilm. Since my presentation, I continue my involvement in making healthy food accessible to all in my support of No Kid Hungry and Feeding America. Recently, I got involved in No Kid Hungry in a larger way as a panelist for their Insight Panel. I hope you enjoy the attached link to my presentation. The noise cancellation on the mic I wear in the video was top-notch because you can't hear the audience reacting to my dialogue! I'm here to reassure you: there was participation - gasps, laughs, and all! Thank you for the opportunity to share my passion with you!

I know I have been judged for my appearance or gender, rather than what I am capable of, but I have also been endowed with advantages that put me in a position to make a big difference. I don't not want to take for granted the opportunities I have been given, and I know all too well of the adversity that students face, just twenty minutes from my home in Detroit. My high school was huge. The campus was cleverly nicknamed the “educational park.” At the time I was enrolled, I was one among seven thousand students from all over the metro Detroit area. Initially, thriving in that environment was challenging for me because I am petite, which influenced people’s perception of my personality and character. My high school golf coach told me I was too small to play at the college level; later, as a college athlete, my college coach teased I was so small that he could “fit me in his pocket.” Likewise, my peers tend to mistakenly assume that I am reserved and timid. What I lack in size, I compensate with my copious and eloquent communication skills, and a genuine fervor for speaking in front of an audience. To establish a rapport with the teachers, I depended on my work ethic and intellect. It wasn’t until junior year that I realized I wanted to become a chemical engineer, for the simple reason that I had a passion for chemistry, math, programming, and human health. The FDA’s website was the default homepage on my Internet browser, long before I decided to pursue a chemical engineering degree; and while other kids spent their iTunes gift cards on music, I spent mine on an app subscription to educate myself about the chemicals in foods. I aspired to a career at a national lab, where my work could have far-reaching and positive impacts on my community and society. At the time, I did not know that these aspirations would lead me to graduate school at one of the top research universities in the country, but in the Fall of 2014, I began my engineering studies at Wayne State University. Two years into my undergraduate studies, I began research in the lab of Dr. Jeffrey Potoff. The lab group was unique in that it conducted purely computational research and, thereby, combined all my academic interests. Prior to my involvement, my project had been abandoned in pursuit of other research goals. With my diligence and self-motivation, however, I resurrected the project and procured over four thousand dollars in research scholarships. After two years of hard work and countless hours spent in the lab behind the computer screen, my perseverance and success helped me prove, to myself, that I am equipped for a career in research. Around the time I began conducting research, I was recruited as a peer mentor by the engineering department’s Bridge Program at Wayne State University, which has since been rebranded as the EOS Program. The EOS Program was established to provide mentorship and additional guidance in STEM studies to first-year students who expressed aspirations to earn engineering degrees, yet they had an inadequate background in STEM fields. The majority of these students had survived the Detroit school system and, likely, made the decision to get a college degree, in spite of all the factors working against them. I find great pleasure in mentoring because it gives me a platform to use my advantageous circumstances for the benefit of others and I, in turn, learn from them. I spent at least ten hours per week, face-to-face with the approximately 10 students under my mentorship. This time was allocated among teaching a course designed to supplement their core courses twice per week, holding office hours, organizing and attending social events for the students. Embracing these successful mentorships at the college level, I sought to engage younger generations in STEM through a Detroit-based, non-profit organization called Life Remodeled. I was one of many volunteers to aid in the renovation of the abandoned Durfee elementary school, to be repurposed as a career-oriented community center for Detroit-area students. Many of the company partners who rent space in the building are companies that recruit engineers and encourage local youth to sharpen their STEM scholarship. At the University of Michigan, I mentor engineering undergraduates who are interested in pursuing research. I intend to continue to share my passions in similar capacities in my future career. In 2019, I experienced my first great loss. At 91-years-old, my grandmother passed away. Despite her age, it was sudden because she had not suffered from any serious health issues. During her hospitalization, she contracted bacterial infection after bacterial infection from all the respiratory and feeding tubes, and urinary catheter. The infections prevented her immune system from recovering and kept her body working so hard to maintain whatever homeostasis was left that, when she passed, she had already been unresponsive for days. Bacterial infections are a nefarious issue in medical environments, even more so with the evolution of antibiotic-resistant bacteria into biofilm. In fact, more than half of infections contracted in hospitals are associated with biofilm formation on implanted medical devices in hospitals, much like my grandmother’s situation. My personal exposure to the dangers of bacteria, combined with my longtime passion for biochemistry, human health, and computer programming, has motivated me to employ computational methods to explore the evasive, resilient structural profile of biofilm, and to screen for compounds that have the potential to exhibit anti-biofilm properties. Six years since my undergraduate studies began, I still strive to work in a national lab, with access to state-of-the-art technology and resources. At a national lab, I would be in the position to contribute to research efforts in a translatable and practical way. I know I am on the right path and the research I have proposed for my PhD thesis will have far-reaching impacts.