Computational Biology mentor with expertise in cancer genomics

Azhar K.

Hi, I am currently a graduate student jointly at the National Cancer Institute and UCSD pursuing a PhD, having graduated from the University of Washington with a BS in Biochemistry and minor in Computer Science. I am an author or co-author of several publications in high-impact scientific journals and have worked top scientists in their field as part of large, inter-disciplinary projects. I have extensive experience in mentoring students at all levels, and have been doing this for the last 3 years.

My expertise lies in guiding students one on one through their own project, and my philosophy is that learning occurs primarily by doing. Hence, the emphasis is taking a a project to completion and having a concrete deliverable at the end (e.g poster, presentation, publication, Github repo). I have deep knowledge of Python (Pandas, Scikit-learn, NumPy), R (ggplot2, TidyVerse). Projects are completed primarily via a shared Google Colab notebook. In addition, I have a carefully curated and comprehensive list of top-notch resources to learn computer science, data science, bioinformatics, and machine learning/AI which I share with every student.

I received stellar reviews from past mentees. For high school students, I can write a letter of recommendation for college (and past students have gone on to top colleges). This is a great option for anyone looking to get into the fascinating and highly lucrative world of computational biology or data science, and/or looking for an in-depth research experience in cutting-edge scientific topics. I went through this journey myself and am currently enjoying the rewarding work I do at an eminent scientific institution, and hope to guide others along a similar trajectory. Please feel free to contact me for more details!