Teaching Philosophy My personal teaching philosophy is composed of the following points:

• As a teacher it is my duty to challenge and support students according to their individual strengths and needs. I pre-assess students’ daily progress to determine the instruction they need and modify lessens and assignments accordingly. Furthermore, I provide varied opportunities for students to communicate and use their knowledge.

• Students are naturally curious. They wonder about and are intrigued by the world around them. Student learn best when they construct their own knowledge through exploration and discussion. Classroom discussion is an essential part of student exploration, as this is the space where students use language to synthesize their knowledge and make them public.

• It is crucial that each student is publicly recognized for his and her strengths and contributions and given credibility within the classroom. This makes the classroom a safe space where students can publicly make brilliant discoveries.

• A teacher is always a student. The classroom should be fresh and exciting, a place to try and adapt new ideas. Most importantly, through personal reflection and student feedback, I am to refine my teaching practice on a daily basis.

 Research Interests:  Brief description of research expertise and research interests: I use a multidisciplinary approach to evaluate the effects of drugs on the brain. Much of my current research focuses on the development of new drugs for the treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders. Recently, we developed new classes of drugs with powerful anti-cocaine and anti-methamphetamine actions in animals. Much of research is now focused on optimizing these compounds, and identifying the cellular and molecular mechanisms through which they exert their beneficial actions. In addition, we recently developed and characterized a new class of compounds that changes animal behavior and neuronal structure and function in ways that predict favorable antidepressant potential. By targeting new mechanisms of action, these compounds are expected to help individuals who do not respond to existing medications.

Academic Honors Junior Research Fellowship from University Grants Commission (UGC), India Senior Research Fellowship from University Grants Commission (UGC), India Young Scientist Travel Award for American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Annual meeting at Experimental Biology 2006 meeting, San Francisco, USA First position in poster presentation in 25th Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Pharmacology Society, Nov. 4-5, 2004 at Oxford, Mississippi, USA