"I am Dr. Bala! I earned my Ph.D degree in Chemistry/Molecular Biophysics by carrying out original research in DNA structure of telomeres! (Telo means ‘the end’ and mere means ‘the part’ in Greek; Telomeres are the specialized DNA sequences present at the ends of our chromosomes)! Prior to this, I had obtained M.S (General Chemistry) and B.S (Chemistry major with Math and Physics as minors). I was a research faculty/professor in a few universities including Arizona State University at Tempe, Vanderbilt University at Nashville and most recently at Harvard Medical School (2003-2014) at Boston. Throughout my career in academia – in addition to bio-medical research, teaching and mentoring undergraduate/graduate students to prepare them for the next phase in their journey had been my most enjoyable, fulfilling and rewarding experience. I knew that I have a lasting passion for teaching science at college level. However, not until recently, I discovered that I also possess patience and skills necessary to teach high school level AP and SAT chemistry, when I tutored my son, for Honors and AP Chemistry in high school years. He got 5.0 GPA in AP Chemistry and now a sophomore doing Chemical Biology in UC Berkeley.

My teaching interests encompass Chemistry, Biochemistry and Math. When I meet the student for the first time, I use my unique way of assessing to judge where he/she stands. Accordingly, I devise a personalized teaching strategy to suit the student’s individual needs and also to make the student’s learning experience positive and most importantly productive. Currently, I work in biotechnology/Pharmaceutical industry. However, having spent over 20+ years in scientific research and teaching in academic institutions, I just realized I am missing the fun part of teaching science to the next generation! So please feel free to reach out to me if I can be of any help!" less...