I grew up in Karachi, Pakistan in a home that greatly valued education. My father was a professor at a teaching hospital and remains an educator to this day. I benefited tremendously from having him as my personal tutor and believe that all students can succeed with individualized support.

I majored in molecular biology at Princeton University and have a Ph.D. in biochemistry with a focus on structural biophysics from Duke University. I use biochemical and biophysical tools to study infectious microorganisms and develop medicine to treat or prevent associated diseases.

My first formal tutoring experience was in college teaching math over the summer at the Freshman Scholars Institute to a select group of students who had shown a dedication to academics but needed a support with various STEM subjects. I loved being a tutor and helping my students feel pride and joy in their work. I was also an academic peer advisor for students considering molecular biology as their major.

In graduate school, I was a teaching assistant for undergraduate biochemistry, a large class of 400+ students, each of whom had different needs. I gave personalized help to as many students as possible during my weekly office hours and was happy to see them grow progressively more confident in the subject and excel at it.

I also have been teaching and mentoring new and rotation students in my labs for many years, helping them with scientific concepts and lab experiments and teaching good scientific practices, such as how to be a good lab mate and an ethical and conscientious scientist. This is one of my favorite parts of being in academia.

My experience with all sorts of students has taught me that everybody has different styles of learning and the more personalized the mentorship, the better the outcome can be. As a scientist working at the intersection of biology and chemistry, I hope I can infect students with a love for the subjects and help them find their own passion.

In my free time I like to be outdoors as much as possible—hiking, biking, walking to the park or library, and going to the farmer’s market.