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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 and single-cell data from DNA sequences. The system supports in-silico mutagenesis, attention layer analysis, and dynamic comparison across multiple sequences and cell types.
    • Broke down client needs and requirements into features and milestones, delivered an MVP, then iterated through usability studies. Provided customer value by enabling no code hypothesis testing, improving time to insight by 6%, and eliminating backend compute; piloted by 15 researchers.
  • 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 45+ 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.