Dr. Eli trained as a molecular biologist and cancer biologist as an undergraduate at Chapman University in Orange, CA, and as a Ph.D. trainee at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in Birmingham, AL. Her research focuses on a novel biomarker for cervical cancer that enables the development of a home-based screening test to improve cervical cancer prevention in rural and medically underserved communities.
Dr. Eli obtained Practitioner Certification during her graduate studies at UAB’s Center for Integrated Research, Teaching, and Learning. Her teaching philosophy centers around three tenets: exciting students about biological science and research, developing critical thinking and reflection skills in undergraduate students, and encouraging students to adopt a growth mindset about learning. She is committed, in the classroom and lab, to demonstrating how basic concepts in biology can be applied in real-world situations, with the goal of emphasizing the importance of understanding biological principles. Dr. Eli believes students are best prepared to face the challenges of contemporary science, healthcare, and research when they learn in classrooms with active participation and opportunities for collaboration, along with dependable mentorship and guidance from the professor. She strives every day to incorporate these strategies into her classrooms and labs, with the ultimate goal of training the next generation of scientists and healthcare professionals who can critically create and consider scientific ideas, research, and applications to improve society.
