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General Information

Name Sanjana Srabanti
Email sanjana.srabanti16@gmail.com , ssraba2@uic.edu
Research Interest Data Visualization, Visual Analytics, Data Analysis, HCI, Machine Learning

Education

Work Experience

  • 2019 - Present

    Chicago, IL

    Graduate Research Assistant
    University of Illinois Chicago
    • Conducting research on Head and Neck Cancer, COVID-19 ensemble forecast models, street and pedestrian network visualization, geographical data, and environmental justice, developing interactive visual analytics frameworks for spatial-temporal and multivariate data exploration.
    • Designed modular, browser-based visual analytics systems that enable reuse across multiple domains to explore spatial-temporal and multivariate data, supporting comparative analysis, hypothesis generation, and decision-making without low-level coding.
    • Led full-stack system design from client interviewing to prototyping, implementation, and iterative evaluation with domain experts.
  • 2021 - Present

    Chicago, IL

    Graduate Teaching Assistant
    University of Illinois Chicago
    • Courses: Visual Data Science, Data structure, & Computer Design.
    • Conducted office hours, graded lab presentations, assignments and projects.
  • May 2024 - Aug 2022

    South San Francisco, CA

    Data Visualization and Machine Learning Intern
    Genentech
    • Developed a modular, browser-based visual analytics tool for interpreting LLM-based sequence models, enabling real-time, serverless predictions and interactive exploration of gene expression outputs from DNA sequences. The system supports in-silico mutagenesis, attention layer analysis, and dynamic comparison across multiple sequences, empowering researchers to validate hypotheses and accelerate genomic discovery.
    • Led full-stack system design from client interviewing to prototyping, application design, implementation, and iterative evaluation with domain experts.
  • Jan 2022 - July 2022

    Chicago, IL

    President
    Girls Who Code College Loop, University of Illinois Chicago
    • Improved retention in computer science and related disciplines.
    • Helped in building community and developing a supportive network of female peers and connecting Girls Who Code alumni on campus.
  • 2018 - 2019

    Dhaka, Bangladesh

    Lecturer
    Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Eastern University
    • Supervised undergraduate courses e.g., Web development, Digital logic Design, C/C++, Java and Matlab programming classes and labs.
    • Worked as assistant course coordinator and student advisor.

Technical Skills

  • Programming Languages
    • Python, Java, C/C++, JavaScript, TypeScript, PHP, Assembly, MATLAB
  • Web & Cloud Technologies
    • HTML/CSS, Angular, React, Flask, AWS
  • Visualization & Analytics
    • D3.js, Tableau, Three.js, Gosling.js, Vega-Lite, Vega-Altair, ggplot2, Matplotlib
  • Machine Learning & Data Science
    • Scikit-learn, PyTorch, TensorFlow, ONNX, ONNX-runtime, Pandas, NumPy
  • Databases & Big Data Tools
    • SQL, MySQL, Oracle, Snowflake, Redshift, Spark, Hadoop
  • Graphics & Game Development
    • OpenGL, Blender, Unity
  • Soft Skills
    • Team Work, Problem Solving, Prototyping, Client Interviewing, Time management, Creativity, Leadership

Research Projects

  • 2024 - Present
    Conversational AI-Driven Glyph Visualization for Enhanced Multidimensional Data Communication
    • Leveraged LLMs (GPT-4 Vision, ChatGPT) to extract glyph elements from hand-drawn sketches and semantically map them to data attributes via conversational text prompts.
    • Developing an LLM-powered visual analytics system that guides novice users to create expert-level glyph visualizations, reducing design complexity and enhancing accessibility.
  • 2022 - Present
    Street and Pedestrian Network Visualization: Design Framework and Declarative Grammar Development
    • Reviewed 60+ studies on street-overlaid visualizations to identify design challenges and propose a design space for multivariate spatial network visualization.
    • Developed StreetWeave, a declarative grammar and scalable data pipeline to simplify the creation of street network visualizations, reducing technical barriers for domain experts by eliminating low-level coding. Enabled reproducible, multi-resolution visualizations integrating thematic and physical data, adopted in real-world case studies for cross-domain spatial analysis and decision support.
  • 2021 - 2022
    Visualization of Probability Distributions of Geographical Data
    • Adapted non-spatial probability visualization techniques to geographic data, solving challenges in quantifying uncertainty.
    • Led a user study measuring accuracy and usability, informing best practices for spatial probabilistic visualizations.
  • 2019 - 2022
    Health Disparities in the Head and Neck Cancer Patient Population
    • Harmonized two large, multi-institutional HNC datasets (UI Health & MD Anderson) to support comparative analysis of health disparities.
    • Developed visual analysis tool for HNC data using machine learning approach, enabling oncologists to analyze demographics, disease characteristics, and treatments and outcomes differences across cohorts.
  • Sep 2021 - Dec 2021
    Analyzing County-level COVID-19 Symptoms Pattern and Risk-factors
    • Analyzed county-level COVID-19 symptoms pattern and risk-factors correlated with hospitalization rate, ICU treatments and morbidity rate using data mining and machine learning approaches.
    • Analyzed big data consists of 300 million rows.
  • May 2021 - Aug 2021
    Visual Analysis of COVID-19 Forecast Ensemble Models
    • Built COVID-19 EnsembleVis, an open-source, browser-based system for evaluating pandemic forecast models at county-level granularity, exposing spatial disparities often missed at coarser scales.
    • Enabled comparison of ensemble vs. individual models through spatial-temporal visualizations, helping researchers quantify uncertainty and assess prediction reliability across geographies.
  • Oct 2019 - Dec 2019
    Visualizing Similarities and Differences between Head and Neck cancer patients
    • Developed 3D visualization system for head and neck cancer patients.
    • Visualized patients similarities and dissimilarities in terms of dose prescription, dose distribution, tumor size, and presence of lymph node.
  • July 2017 - Dec 2017
    Android Based Advanced Attendance System usingWireless Network and Bio-metric Fingerprint Authentication
    • Designed and developed a smart attendance system using a custom Android app integrating biometric fingerprint authentication and Wi-Fi connectivity to verify both identity and physical presence.
    • Implemented session-based login and real-time tracking to prevent proxy attendance and ensure continuous presence monitoring.

Talks and Presentations

  • Unveiling Complexities: Visualization Techniques for Heterogenous Multivariate Data Analysis
    • Ph.D. Proposal Defense, 2024.
  • Interactive Exploration of Inferences from Genomic Sequence-Based Machine Learning Models
    • Presented my internship work at Genentech, summer 2024.
  • A Tale of Two Centers: Visual Exploration of Health Disparities in Cancer Care
    • Paper presented at IEEE PacificVis and at Visualization and Data Analytics Research Center at NYU, 2022.
  • Approaches for Uncertainty Visualization of Temporal Data
    • Ph.D. Qualifier Exam, 2021.
  • COVID-19 EnsembleVis: Visual Analysis of County-level Ensemble Forecast Models
    • Paper presented at IEEE Workshop on Visual Analytics in Healthcare (VAHC), IEEE VIS virtually and in person at UIC, EVL satellite event for the conference.
  • Android based advanced attendance vigilance system using wireless network with fusion of biometric fingerprint authentication
    • Paper presented at International Conference on Advanced Communication Technology (IEEE ICACT), 2018, South Korea.
  • GiveMed: A webportal for medicine distribution among poverty-stricken people
    • Paper presented at IEEE Region 10 Humanitarian Technology Conference (R10-HTC), 2017.

Honors & Awards

  • GHC Scholarship
    • Grace Hopper Celebration (GHC) Scholarship for attending GHC conference 2023
  • Dean’s List
    • MIST Dean’s List of honor for excellent result – in the years 2017, 2016, 2015, and 2014
  • Merit Scholarship
    • University Merit Scholarship for excellent result – in the years 2017, 2016, 2015, and 2014

Volunteering & Services

  • Student Volunteer
    • Provide essential support to the IEEE VIS Conference: 2022 (in-person), 2021 (remotely).
  • Conference Reviewer
    • IEEE VIS: 2022, 2023, 2024 - Reviewed both full and short papers.
    • EuroVIS: 2023, 2024 - Reviewed full papers.
  • IEEE VIS Satelite Event
    • Organized and managed IEEE VIS Satelite Event at the Electronic Visualization Laboratory, 2021.
  • UIC Open House
    • Organized and managed public visits at the Electronic Visualization Laboratory, 2019.