Research Associate II @ the Noël Lab, LSU School of Veterinary Medicine. Recent graduate of Harvard, B.A. in Statistics with a minor in Global Health/Health Policy. Passionate about:
Selected coursework in:
Statistics
Global health/health policy
Queer, feminist, and trans studies
Studying sex-specific responses to thirdhand exposure to electronic cigarette aerosol in neonatal mice through functional and multi-omic analysis of the respiratory environment and taxonomic profiling of the lung-gut metagenome.
Studying respiratory effects of weathered and heavy metal complexed micro/nanoplastics using an air-liquid interface in vitro model.
Conducted metagenomic analysis of phage predation and intraspecies microbial diversity in bacterial vaginosis and in health.
Developed an ultrasensitive detection method for Parkinson’s Disease (PD) biomarkers in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) for early diagnosis of PD. Method consists of (1) EV isolation from biofluids using size-exclusion chromatography and detection of EV-specific transmembrane protein CD63 and marker Alix, followed by (2) single-molecule assay (Simoa) detection of internal biomarker alpha-synuclein (SNCA) inside of EVs and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) at the single-protein, femtomolar level. Process was validated and lower limit quantified using cohort of healthy and sick patients.
Conducted meta-analysis of over 500 infrared neural stimulation papers using mixed-methods social network and trend analysis techniques.
Wrote white paper on directed energy technology deployment strategies.
Developed and implemented asthmatic mouse models for toxicogenomics research.
Mentored visiting high school student in introductory molecular biology research.
Co-authored paper:
Noël, A., Hansen, S., Zaman, A., Perveen, Z., Pinkston, R., Hossain, E., Xiao, R., & Penn, A. (2020). In
utero exposures to electronic-cigarette aerosols impair the Wnt signaling during mouse lung development.
American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology, 318(4), L705–L722.
doi.org/10.1152/ajplung.00408.2019.
Improved upon existing SHERLOCKv2 diagnostic by leveraging CRISPR/Cas13 complex for detection of Zaire Ebolavirus nucleic acids in a clinical sample and optimizing Cas13 RNA guide design.
Honors:
View manuscript and poster.
Investigated toxicity of electronic cigarette aerosol on human broncho-epithelial cells, with a focus on detoxification pathways such as biotransformation, oxidation, inflammation, and cancer progression.
Investigated toxicity of e-cig aerosol on mice, with a focus on respiratory and intergenerational harm. Male mice exposed to e-cig aerosol showed a significant decrease in sperm membrane integrity and upregulation of genes associated with inflammatory response. Pregnant females showed significant increase in respiratory system elastance and downregulation of inflammatory genes, suggesting that pregnancy might modulate respiratory responses to e-cig aerosols. Lung morphometry analysis of 4-week old offspring exposed in utero to e-cig aerosol suggested impacted alveolarization processes; this was supported by the up-regulation of genes in the non-canonical WNT pathways involved in lung organogenesis.
Co-authored abstract for 2018 Society of Toxicology International Conference in San Diego, CA:
Noel, A., Hansen, S., Spataro, K. B., Zaman, A., Perveen, Z., Leisinger, C. A., ... & Penn, A. L. (2018).
Electronic cigarette exposures before and during embryogenesis impair lung development in mice. In C16.
Cigarette, E-Cigarette, and Marijuana Smoking: Human and Mouse Studies (pp. A4455-A4455). American
Thoracic Society International Conference. atsjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1164/ajrccm-conference.2018.197.1_MeetingAbstracts.A4455.
Honors:
Investigated cytotoxicity of regionally consumed Asian drug products such as betel quid and hookah.
Presented poster at 2016 Society of Toxicology International Conference (New Orleans).
Honors:
Noël, A., Hansen, S., Zaman, A., Perveen, Z., Pinkston, R., Hossain, E., Xiao, R., & Penn, A. (2020). In utero exposures to electronic-cigarette aerosols impair the Wnt signaling during mouse lung development. American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology, 318(4), L705–L722. doi.org/10.1152/ajplung.00408.2019.
Noel, A., Hansen, S., Spataro, K. B., Zaman, A., Perveen, Z., Leisinger, C. A., ... & Penn, A. L. (2018). Electronic cigarette exposures before and during embryogenesis impair lung development in mice. In C16. Cigarette, E-Cigarette, and Marijuana Smoking: Human and Mouse Studies (pp. A4455-A4455). American Thoracic Society International Conference. atsjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1164/ajrccm-conference.2018.197.1_MeetingAbstracts.A4455.
Led small discussion section, hosted weekly office hours and 1-on-1 tutoring, and graded assessments for Statistics 100: Introduction to Statistics and Data Science (total enrollment: 225 students).
Material includes data exploration, cleaning, and modeling; sampling techniques; causal inference; data ethics; and analysis in R.
Wrote curricula for two courses, Premed I and Premed II, introducing middle and high school students to pre-medicine topics such as molecular biology, organic chemistry, immunology, and public health.
Taught over 50 students across six sessions with highest ratings of all instructors in official student evaluations (rated “Excellent” overall, the highest rating, by 94% of students).
Co-organized two-day, virtual seminar on South-South market commitments for vaccines and therapeutics innovation (May 2021) and wrote post-seminar summary report.
Advised first-year students, first-generation and/or low-income students, and students with historically excluded identities in finding research opportunities and resources through one-on-one mentoring, weekly office hours, public events, and programming.
Planned and hosted 28 events with a total of 1000 attendees for annual Harvard Sex Week (October 2023) and Sex Weekend (March 2024), including workshops, lectures, and facilitated discussions on topics of sex and health, gender, sexuality, and relationships, such as healthy vulvovaginal practices, transgender wellness, body myths, faith and sexuality, sexual wellness for disabled people, kink and BDSM, and updated models of consent.
Secured over $100,000 in donations of sex supplies and toys to provide students with avenues for safer sex and wellness.
Collaborate with Boston Children's Hospital and the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services to develop and disseminate educational material on vulvovaginal health and enhance sexual health education for adjudicated youth in care.
Received 2024 Student Organization of the Year Award from Harvard Dean of Students Office.
Developed data-driven recommendations on policies, pricing, and administrative functions of student health insurance; advocated for increasing scope and accessibility of university health services.
Created initiatives on menstrual equity, pandemic-era student life, and financial assistance for first-generation and/or low-income students.
Conducted weekly strategy meetings with internal members, community stakeholders, and nonprofit organizations. Developed relationships with community partners for new initiatives. Managed social media.
Co-facilitate and contribute to eight committees on socioeconomic justice, academic, and arts initiatives, including Women of Harvard-Radcliffe archival research, International Affairs scholarly lecture series, Queer Asians programming, Anti-Deportations and Anti-Caste organizing, and Ethnic Studies activism.
Performed casework and fundraising for ongoing financial assistance of community members.
Met with community stakeholders to bolster food supply pipeline.
Analyzed effects of migration and globalization on tech from “rest of world” (i.e. outside of the US and
Western Europe) as part of highly selective, 42-person cohort.
Independent research focused on gender identity formation through digital and new media, focusing on X (formerly Twitter) and its
relationship to Silicon Valley transhumanist movements.
Critically engaged incoming first-year students with the use of technology as a means of surveillance and
racial injustice.
Mentored two students from ideation to publication in the YX Foundation Journal:
Managed 60-student, 7-team research project conducting early-pandemic ethnographies of non-healthcare essential workers.