My Mentoring and Teaching Philosophy
“Teach students to be thinkers not just specialists” – Gundula Bosch
My philosophy is to empower the students with the skills and mindset that prepares them to excel in scientific careers of traditional and non-traditional nature. Whether in the classroom or in the lab, this involves providing a fun and safe learning environment; fostering engagement; developing context-based learning; personalizing the training based on individual needs; developing a hypothesis-driven scientific approach that allows them to succeed during and beyond the mentoring phase; shaping my teaching and mentoring style through incorporating feedback from the class and the lab, and addressing individual needs based on different backgrounds, abilities, needs, and goals.
Experience in Mentorship
Research Mentor | Kasinski Lab | Purdue University (2018 – Present)
Mentoring undergraduate and graduate students in extracellular vesicle biology and miRNA therapeutics research:
- Sydney N. Shaw graduated in 2024. Her research focus was understanding how cancer-derived EVs interact with and impair the function of immune T cells. She is a two-times recipient of Summer Research Awards from the Purdue Biology Department and the Purdue Institute for Cancer Research. She has joined Tempus, a healthcare company, and is eager to pursue graduate research in the future.
- Noor Abdullah, an undergraduate student, studied how cancer-derived extracellular vesicles affect non-tumorigenic epithelial cells. She identified her interest in Medicine and went on to join the residency program at IU School of Medicine with an academic honors scholarship.
- Mentored undergraduate and graduate students in designing hypothesis, bioinformatics analysis, animal work, feedback on research presentations, and scientific writing.
- Arranged lab visits for high school students by directly working with Purdue Polytechnic High School teachers.
- Received Purdue Postdoc Mentor Award in 2023 in recognition of these contributions.
Students that I have mentored as part of the Kasinski lab:
| Name | Role | Period |
| Antionette P. Yasko | Rotation student | 2023 |
| Sharjeel Anjum | Ph.D. student | 2022 – present |
| Kenan Ozcan | Ph.D. student | 2022 – present |
| Samira Piltan | Ph.D. student | 2021 – present |
| Shreyas G. Iyer | Ph.D. student | 2020 – present |
| Jihye (Julie) Son | Ph.D. student | 2018 – 2024 |
| Humna Hasan | Ph.D. student | 2021 – 2022 |
| Jasleen Kaur (India) | Ph.D. student | 2023 – present |
| Zulaida Soto-Vargas | Ph.D. student | 2018 – 2023 |
| Alejandra M. Agredo | Ph.D. student | 2018 – 2023 |
| Ahmed M. Abdelaal | Ph.D. student | 2018 – 2023 |
| Manvir Bains | Undergraduate student | 2018 – 2020 |
Research Mentor | Lumiere Education (2022 – 2023)
Participated in a global mentorship program that allows high school students from anywhere in the world work one-on-one with a Ph.D. mentor in a 10-week long intensive program to learn about the cutting-edge research in their field of interest and produce an independent research paper:
- Taha Lakhani, a student at Eastside Secondary School, Belleville, Ontario, Canada, worked with me from December 2022 – March 2023. I developed a personalized research program that was based on Taha’s interest in Immunotherapy. We met on a weekly basis to develop a strong understanding of the lung immune system, mechanisms that allow lung cancers to evade immune response, and immunotherapy in lung cancer. Through his passion, and a little bit of my guidance, he wrote a detailed research paper titled “Introduction to Immunotherapy in Lung Cancer: A Review”, summarizing his understanding of the field.
- Besufekad Liyew, a student at Wheaton High School, Wheaton, Maryland, worked with me from March 2023 – June 2023. Through extensive discussions and meetings on a weekly basis, Besu developed a comprehensive understanding of miRNA biogenesis, their mechanism of action, and their utilization as cancer therapeutics. He demonstrated his understanding of these concepts in a research paper titled “The mechanics of miRNA therapeutics and their effectiveness in combatting cancer development”.
Experience in Teaching
Teaching Assistant | University of Massachusetts-Lowell (2014 – 2018)
Instructed graduate and undergraduate level courses and designed and graded exams:
- Toxicology and Health course (PUBH.5030), a graduate-level course offered every Fall semester (15 lectures per semester). It involved conducting detailed discussions regarding toxic exposures in personal and work environments, and cellular and molecular mechanisms of toxicity, preparing exams, and grading.
- Life Science I (83.101) and Life Science II (83.102), undergraduate-level courses offered every other semester (45 lectures/labs per semester). It involved meeting with over 100 students on a weekly basis, conducting lectures, labs, assignments, and grading.
Experience in Service and Leadership
President | Society of Research Fellows | Purdue University (2024 – present)
I am the founding president of the Society of Research Fellows at the Purdue Institute for Cancer Research (PICR-SRF). The mission of PICR-SRF is to foster a sense of community among graduate students and postdocs at the Purdue Institute for Cancer Research and provide opportunities for personal and professional development. To work towards this mission, our efforts are broadly divided into following categories:
- Invited talks from academia and industry.
- Social and fun events that bring together the PICR graduate students and postdocs.
- Workshops that provide competitive technical skills in Bioinformatics, Flow cytometry, Imaging, and others.
- Career advancement opportunities, such as resume/CV editing, writing feedback, and mock interviews.
Ikjot Singh Sohal 