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Skills Beyond the Thesis: Graduate Certificate Showcase
by
Thu, Oct 29, 2026
3 PM – 4:30 PM CDT (GMT-5)
Private Location (sign in to display)
5
Registered
Details
Food Provided (Pizza and beverages)
Speakers
Dr. Anandhi Upendran
Director of Biomedical Innovation
University of Missouri-Columbia
Dr. Anandhi Upendran is an Assistant Teaching Professor and Director of Biomedical Innovation at the University of Missouri School of Medicine. She has more than 20 years of research experience in bioinorganic chemistry, organometallic chemistry, nanomedicine, and preclinical studies, and holds a RAPS certificate in Regulatory Affairs.
She has co-founded two startups, secured SBIR Phase I and II funding, and prepared an IND application, earning honors that include the Tibbetts Award, presented at the White House in 2012.
She founded MU’s Life Sciences Innovation and Entrepreneurship (LSIE) graduate certificate and leads the NIH/NIA-funded BETA (Biomedical Entrepreneurship Training for Aging) program, along with an online master’s in Biological Engineering.
Her independent research focuses on nanoparticle drug delivery for drug-resistant cancers and on nanosensors for early detection of diabetic retinopathy and retinopathy of prematurity.
She has authored two books, more than 40 peer-reviewed articles, and 11 issued patents.
Dr. Praveen Rao
Director of Graduate Studies, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
University of Missouri-Columbia
Dr. Praveen Rao directs the Scalable AI & Data Science (SDS) Lab at the University of Missouri and serves as Director of Graduate Studies for the David L. Payne Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS).
His research spans scalable AI, data science, health informatics, and cybersecurity, with a focus on scalable algorithms for managing, learning, and reasoning with big data and advanced cyber-infrastructure.
His work has been funded by NSF, NIH, NEH, HRSA, CDC, and the Department of Education. He is a co-investigator for MU’s HRSA-funded Center for Telehealth Research and Policy (C-TRaP) and was a core scientist at the NIH-funded Washington University Center for Diabetes Translation Research.
His recent honors include the EECS Outstanding Senior Faculty Researcher Award (2025), the IDSI Excellence in Mentoring Award (2025), and the EECS Senior Faculty Excellence in Teaching and Mentoring Award (2023).
He is a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors, the ACM, and the IEEE.
Dr. Edward Mirielli
Associate Teaching Professor and Director of Online Graduate Studies - Data Science & Analytics
University of Missouri-Columbia
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ed-mirielli-309a1813
Dr. Edward Mirielli is an Associate Teaching Professor of Data Science and Analytics (DSA) at the University of Missouri, a role he took up in June 2021. He holds an MS in Sociology (epidemiology/demography) and a PhD in Rural Sociology (applied statistics and research computing), both from MU.
During the 2020–2021 phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, he co-managed inbound HL7 electronic laboratory reporting for the Missouri Bureau of Reportable Disease Informatics (BRDI). He worked with multi-million-record laboratory, syndromic surveillance, and immunization datasets and built tools to migrate immunization data and generate “smart lab slips.”
His AI and machine learning work includes natural language processing for training physician bedside manner and recommender systems that help researchers choose the best approach, along with analytics and data products for multinational corporations, professional organizations, and small businesses.
He brings more than 20 years of post-secondary teaching in computer science, IT, and analytics, covering data modeling, C++, Python, R, SAS, SPSS, and SQL, and has supervised hundreds of student projects.
He has authored or co-authored publications across sociology, computer science, public health, business, engineering, chemistry, and teaching and learning, bringing a balance of theory and practice to the DSA program.
Dr. Sara Vassmer
Director, The Connector
University of Missouri-Columbia
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-vassmer-27071438
Dr. Sara Vassmer is Director of The Connector, the University of Missouri’s hub for research broader impacts and public engagement. She also serves as Director for Operations for the NSF-funded Center for Advancing Research Impact in Society (ARIS), with The Connector acting as the university hub for ARIS.
She earned her doctorate in Education from the University of Missouri, and her background is in prevention-based research on alcohol and substance use.
She has more than a decade of experience in research development and research impact, community outreach, and professional and program development.
Through one-on-one consultations, The Connector helps faculty build engagement activities into their grant proposals, and it has supported more than 400 proposals across the four UM System campuses. It also runs professional development programs such as the month-long Mentoring at Mizzou series and the three-year Early Career Research Development Fellows Program.
She is also a Director of Graduate Study for MU’s Graduate Certificate in Public Engagement.
Hosted By
Heather Hoffman
Co-hosted with: Graduate School