The genetics and biology behind human learning has never been fully understood. In an effort to shed light on the genetic basis of learning and memory, I will seek to model gene expression in the brain of the zebra finch from its behaviors. The zebra finch, the second avian genome to be fully sequenced, has long been considered an apt model for learning and memory in humans. Given the high quantity of genomic information on the zebra finch, its quantifiable behaviors, and various Machine Learning techniques, I hope to gain insight into the underlying genetics of learning and memory in the finch\’92s brain in the hope that this gives us insight into similar processes in humans.

Over the past two years I have participated in a UROP in the lab of Professor Sangeeta Bhatia at the Koch Institute where I worked on developing a model using synthetic biomarkers for the early detection of cancer. I also worked on using Machine Learning to predict failure within cloud computing systems at Infosys, an IT company in India. These experiences have helped me explore my interests in computational biology.