Published on Oct. 24, 2023

Updated on May 13, 2024

Sonia is currently pursuing her doctoral research in Health Informatics. Her research interests focus on artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), deep learning (DL), large language models (LLM), and analyzing various types of healthcare-related data, including electronic health records (EHR), cognitive data, and sensor data, to predict clinical outcomes.

Sonia earned her BS in Forestry from the Institute of Forestry and Environmental Sciences at Chittagong University (CU) in Bangladesh. She then received a European Union (Erasmus Mundus) Scholarship to pursue her MS in European Forestry, which provided her the unique opportunity to immerse herself in diverse academic environments across several European countries, including Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Spain, and France. This rich exposure to different cultures and academic traditions greatly enhanced her perspective and skills. After her MS study, Sonia moved to the UK to work at Lloyds Banking Group in Manchester, followed by a pursuit of her second MS from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in Germany, where she received the Outstanding Student Award. She also participated in an Erasmus exchange program at the University of BOKU, Austria, focusing on biotechnology and chemical genetics. While at TUM, Sonia contributed as a research assistant in Prof. Caroline Gutjahr’s Plant Genetics lab. Driven by a strong interest in informatics and programming, she later moved to the U.S. for her doctoral studies. Sonia was elected as the President of the Graduate Student Organization (GSO) for the 2024-2025 term. She will chair the 13th Missouri Annual Data Science and Informatics Symposium in October 2024, the Hackathon in 2025, and various social events.

Beyond her professional and academic responsibilities, Sonia is a devoted mother and enjoys traveling, hiking, painting, and photography.