Chitra Banarjee

Project:  Movement and Social Approach in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Mentors:
Gang Ren, PhD | IDSC AI +  Machine Learning
Daniel S. Messinger, PhD  |  Professor of Psychology

Chitra is an undergraduate at UM studying Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Mathematics (Applied Analysis) with a minor in Chemistry. She’s currently working under Dr. Daniel Messinger in the Interactive Behavior in Schools (IBIS) project to understand social movement and approach in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) through objective, continuous measurements. As an IDSC Fellow, she hopes to explore the potential of automated behavioral measurement for objectively describing the ASD phenotype through quantification of the social movement deficits characteristic of children with ASD in their interactions with their peers.

Anthony Mario Bonacolta

Project:  Single-cell Transcriptomic Sequencing of a Coral during the Bleaching Process

Mentors:
Ben Kirtman, PhD | Deputy Director, Institute for Data Science and Computing
Director, IDSC Atmosphere, Ocean, and Earth Science
Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, RSMAS
Javier del Campo, PhD  |  Assistant Professor, Department of Marine Biology and Ecology, RSMAS

Anthony is a first year PhD student in Dr. Javier del Campo’s Marine Microbial Ecology and Evolution Laboratory in the Marine Biology and Ecology Department at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS). His research focuses on the role of micro-eukaryotes and bacteria in marine organisms.

Jia Geng

Project:  Developing Deep Learning Models for Rotifer (Bachionus spp.) Detection and Classification

Mentors:
Amin Sarafraz, PhD  |  IDSC Software Engineering
Research Assistant Professor, College of Engineering
Daniel Benetti, PhD  |  Director of Aquaculture and Professor, Department of Marine Ecosystems and Society

Jia is currently a PhD student in Marine Ecosystem and Society under the supervision of Dr. Daniel Benetti. He received his BS in Aquaculture from the Ocean University of China in 2015 and Graduate Certification in Data Science Foundations from North Carolina State University in 2019. His doctoral research centers on developing AI systems to automated live feed cultivation for fish hatcheries. During the IDSC Fellows program, he hopes to apply deep learning models to achieve high accuracy rotifer detection and classification. His project website can be reached via GitHub: gengjia0214/AIRoti.

Jia was recently awarded an AI for Earth Microsoft Azure sponsored grant. Microsoft’s AI for Earth program awards support projects that change the way people and organizations monitor, model, and ultimately manage Earth’s natural systems.

Karna Nagalla

Project:  Computational Approaches to Microbiome Alterations and Disease States

Mentors:
Sylvia Daunert, PhD  Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Lucille P. Markey Chair of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Director, Dr. J. T. MacDonald Biomedical Nanotechnology Institute
Director of Research, Center for Integrative and Complementary Medicine
Gregory O’Connor, PhD  |  Post Doctoral Associate, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Karna is an undergraduate at the University of Miami studying Microbiology/Immunology and Applied Math with a minor in Chemistry and Electrical Engineering. He will be working under Dr. Sylvia Daunert and Dr. Gregory O’Connor to analyze human microbiome changes caused by various diseases and their progression. Through the IDSC Fellowship, he hopes to continue learning different analyses programs to analyze massive amounts of data as well as gain a further understanding of the human microbiome and its potential role in disease treatments.