THE TEAM
Antara Majumdar (Co-Founder)
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Antara is a Biomedical Sciences major with a passion for neuroscience, genetics research, and international education. She is an Honors Scholar at SUNY Buffalo, co-founder of Beyond the Block, a tutor at the Buffalo Public Schools, and an undergraduate researcher. Having been brought up in New York City, she loves to explore the city, read the NY Times, and travel. Her dream is to become a physician-scientist with a focus on neurodegenerative conditions and discover more ways to help middle-school students from impoverished backgrounds discover and grow their talents through international collaboration.
Sushmita Gelda (Co-Founder)
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Sushmita is a senior English major at the University at Buffalo. She is a proud co-founder of Beyond the Block and enjoys working with students of all ages. As a consultant at UB's Writing Center, she uses her understanding of composition theory to help students improve their writing skills. In the future, she plans a pursue a career that combines her passions for English and education. She is from Syracuse, NY and loves visiting state parks.
Sampurna Chakrabarti (Mentor - Summer 2016)
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Sampurna graduated from University at Buffalo, NY, USA in 2016 majoring in Biology and Psychology. She will now pursue PhD in Pharmacology at the University of Cambridge with a Gates Cambridge Scholarship researching arthritic pain. Besides her interest in neuroscience, she is deeply troubled by the educational inequalities in the world. She has volunteered and worked as a tutor in Buffalo, USA and Kolkata, India. She also serves as a Campaign Leader of Teach for India to help recruit international fellows. Currently, she comes up with new projects for Beyond the Block and implements them in Calcutta Rescue during the summer.
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Kayleigh Reed (Mentor - Winter 2016-17)
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Kayleigh is a junior English, Classics, and Asian Studies triple major at the University at Buffalo. She is passionate about women's rights, worldwide access to education, and refugee resettlement. In Buffalo, she has volunteered with West Buffalo's Lafayette High School as an ESL Teacher's Aide and works as a tutor for South Buffalo's Valley Community After School Program. From Fall 2016-Summer 2017, she will be attending the American Institute of Indian Studies to study Hindi and Urdu and work with Beyond the Block in Calcutta. One day, she hopes to work for the U.N. in refugee resettlement. In her free time, she enjoys boxing and playing guitar.
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Suman Ghosh (Website Designer/ Mentor)
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Suman graduated from the Department of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering, Jadavpur University, India in 2016. He is currently working on Big Data as an Expert Track Specialist Programmer for Infosys Ltd. He is passionate about Artificial Intelligence research, and has been heavily involved in collaborative research projects at Carnegie Mellon Univeristy, Indian Statistical Institute and Jadavpur Univeristy. He shares Beyond the Block's mission of equal access to education for all and serves as a technical advisor in this team. In the summer of 2016, he volunteered at Calcutta Rescue, implementing the International Book and Film Club idea. In his spare time, he likes to read anything he can get his hands on, with topics ranging from politics to cosmology. He is a fervent admirer of the footballing philosophy and playing style of the Spanish club FC Barcelona, and dreams to see them play live at Camp Nou someday.
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Mukta Wagh (Mentor - Fall 2016)
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Mukta is a second year Masters student at the University of Buffalo. She is currently working on a research project within the Pharmacology Department. Her research interests include studying neurodegenerative diseases using Drosophila models of diseases.
She shares Beyond the Block's mission of quality education and serves as an instructor in genetics and neurodegeneration lessons for the students. In Fall 2016, she had been a mentor with lessons regarding understanding how researchers are learning about mechanisms driving neurological disorders.
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James Lee (Mentor - Fall/Spring 2016-17)
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James Lee is a fourth year undergraduate student at the University of Buffalo majoring in Biomedical Sciences. As a senior Biomedical Sciences major he maintains an interest in entering medicine. He has been contributing to Beyond the Block by helping with lesson plans on the UN Global Goals. He was brought up in Iowa and currently lives in New York City! He loves tiramisu and also loves to travel. James worked on a pitch for the World's Challenge competition and is interested in expanding BtB to newer schools.
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Arjita Sanyal (Mentor - Spring 2017)
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Arjita is an Electronics and Communication Engineer with a passion for Artificial Intelligence, Cryptography and Digital Image Processing. Presently she is working as an Associate Software Engineer at Accenture, Kolkata. Born and brought up in Kolkata she has won state level championships in recitation for four consecutive years. She is looking forward to create global awareness among children and help them create a bright future.
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