Dr. A. has been an educator for the last 24 years and currently teaches Science at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy. She holds Masters degrees in Clinical Biochemistry and Microbial Biochemistry and received her doctorate in Biochemistry and Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology from Iowa State University. Dr. A. also holds a diploma in Civil Engineering. Her unique and versatile background enables her to perceive education from a multi-disciplinary angle, and she is constantly integrating different disciplines such as engineering, computer science and biophysics into her pathophysiology classroom. Dr. A.'s classes have been developed to be mostly student-centered with many hands-on activities to develop and nurture student creativity and enhance articulation. She incorporates high tech, challenging and inter-disciplinary projects such as the construction of heart models, Arduino heart rate and blood pressure monitors and other bioengineering topics into her Physiology classes. Dr. A. has been a National Board Certified Teacher since 2010 and has been a certified reader helping candidates with their certification. She has been mentoring students during summer for the past three years, teaching them how to integrate bioengineering and science by modeling cardiac physiology and making life-sized heart models.

Dr. A. has received many awards and recognition for her teaching. Some of these include the Promising Project Award for 3 years in a row from the Illinois Association for Gifted Children, Principal’s Teaching Award and the 2019 S.C.A.R.F. Educational Grant for her idea to predict sudden cardiac death by building an EKG model using Arduino technology. She is currently mentoring IMSA students doing research on the effect of natural compounds on growth inhibition of Glioblastoma multiforme (aggressive human brain cancer) cell lines. Another objective of this research is to identify specific proteins in these cell lines that accelerate tumor growth. Dr. A. shares her innovative ideas