Personal Portfolio

Parishi Dua

High School Student | Researcher | Mental Health Advocate

I'm fascinated by what happens inside the brain and even more by how that understanding can be used to make life a little easier for the people around me. That belief led me to found Thrive Hub, a mental health initiative now reaching 3,900+ students across 14 schools in India and 150+ workers in Dubai, built on the idea that everyone deserves to be able to express what they're feeling.

I'm also drawn to the question of how environment, experience, and genetics shape who we become. I've explored this by conducting review or research of various topics namely-contribution of childhood trauma to mental health, assessing pediatric neurodevelopmental risk following wildland-urban interface fires, studying the role of genetics in case of heart diseases and exploring the oncogenic properties of exosomes from insulin-resistant adipocytes. This interest has taken me to programs at Columbia, Brown, and Yale Young Global Scholars, each one has broadened my perspective.

At Jumeirah College, I founded the Neuroscience Club and lead our Mathematics Society. In my free time, I enjoy being on a tennis court, journaling thoughts or scanning travel vlogs and planning for my next family trip.

Community & Leadership

Founder

Thrive Hub

www.thrivehub.co.in

Designed 15-hr mental health curriculum with professionals; delivered to 14 rural India schools, reaching 3,900+ students since 2023. Received Youth Empowerment & Service Award 2024 from KCS Foundation in collaboration with the Consulate General of India

Founder & Host

YouTube platform, Wisdomworks @wisdomworkslive

Hosted webinars with professionals on mental health stigma, neurodiversity & digital wellbeing, reaching audiences beyond the classroom

Trainer & Facilitator

Wellness Workshops for Semi-Skilled Workers, Dubai

Delivered health & well-being workshops for 150+ workers across 2 Dubai companies; aim to scale up through volunteers from professional associations.

Founder and President

Jumeirah College, Neuroscience club

Founded club, grew to 25+ members; teach neurodevelopment & cognitive bias via Kahoot, debates & playdough neuron modeling

Lead Mathematician

Jumeirah College, Maths Society

Mentor 70+ students in Olympiad-style math; organized school-level Math Olympiad incl. questions & doubt sessions

Community Engagement & Mentorship

Volunteer Tennis Assistant Coach

Assist tennis coach for 6-8 year old's; love their contagious energy and how their small wins spark real excitement to keep learning

Research Papers & Projects

Student Researcher

Proposed Plastiglomerate Aerosol Framework for Assessing Pediatric Neurodevelopmental Risk Following Wildland-Urban Interface Fires

Mentored by Ms. Tanvi Sheth -Biotechnology Researcher, Zayed University, Dubai, UAE. Awarded Crest Gold award by British Science Association.

Published paper: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijrr.20260856

Designer & Maker

GCSE Design & Technology Coursework - "Space Invasion"

Designed & built a foosball-style game via CAD, ergonomics research & material testing, meeting specs for function, safety & sustainability.

Junior Academy Member

New York Academy of Sciences- Junior Academy

Selected for a global STEM team; used AI/deep learning to model delivery routes, reducing delays & emissions in logistics.

Student Researcher

Independent quantitative research on Contribution of Childhood Trauma to Mental Health Disorders Later in Life

Analyzed data from 100 adults linking trauma type & childhood exposure age (4-11) to depression, PTSD & long-term mental health outcomes. Awarded Best Data Analysis Award at Dubai Science Fair, 2025, for my research work

Student Researcher

Researched genetic & familial predictors of heart disease risk; awarded Best Research Poster Award, Dubai Science Fair 2024

Inspirit AI Scholar, Team Researcher

Music Recommender Systems project- Inspirit AI Scholars Program (Mentored by Ms. Emma Bernstein, MIT student)

Built a logistic regression model (67-70% accuracy) predicting song popularity; explored content-based & collaborative filtering via cosine similarity.

Research Papers & Projects

Student Researcher

Proposed Plastiglomerate Aerosol Framework for Assessing Pediatric Neurodevelopmental Risk Following Wildland-Urban Interface Fires

Mentored by Ms. Tanvi Sheth -Biotechnology Researcher, Zayed University, Dubai, UAE. Awarded Crest Gold award by British Science Association.

Published paper: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijrr.20260856

Student Researcher

Independent quantitative research on Contribution of Childhood Trauma to Mental Health Disorders Later in Life

Designer & Maker

GCSE Design & Technology Coursework - "Space Invasion"

Designed & built a foosball-style game via CAD, ergonomics research & material testing, meeting specs for function, safety & sustainability.

Student Researcher

Researched genetic & familial predictors of heart disease risk; awarded Best Research Poster Award, Dubai Science Fair 2024

Junior Academy Member

New York Academy of Sciences- Junior Academy

Selected for a global STEM team; used AI/deep learning to model delivery routes, reducing delays & emissions in logistics.

Inspirit AI Scholar, Team Researcher

Music Recommender Systems project- Inspirit AI Scholars Program (Mentored by Ms. Emma Bernstein, MIT student)

Built a logistic regression model (67-70% accuracy) predicting song popularity; explored content-based & collaborative filtering via cosine similarity.

Academic Enrichment

columbia pre college program

Introduction to Neuroscience-Columbia University Pre-College Programs

I studied the molecular basis of neural communication, from action potentials to synaptic transmission, and learned to connect brain systems to real-world conditions. For my group...

summer program - Cancer Biology

Cancer Biology Research

The course introduced me to the fundamental concepts in cancer biology and to the experimental techniques commonly used in Cancer Research.I learned to critically read primary literature and translate basic research into testable...

AI Research Intern, Urban Flood Modeling

Urban Intelligence Lab, Sidara - under Tom Benson (ex-MIT Senseable City Lab)

Under the mentorship of Tom Benson, Head of the Urban Intelligence Lab at Sidara and former Research & Business Manager at MIT's Senseable City Lab, I explored how urban planning,...

Innovations in Science & Technology - YYGS

Yale Young Global Scholars- Innovations in Science & Technology (IST) track

Yale Young Global Scholars (YYGS) is an academic enrichment program for outstanding high school students from over 150 countries. I attended the Innovations in...

Medical Observer, Dept. of Internal Medicine

All India Institute Of Medical Sciences

Gained exposure to clinical diagnostics during 3 week Medical Observation program with the Department of Internal Medicine at AIIMS Jodhpur. In the diagnostic labs, I observed hema...

Beta Reviewer

Book titled: "A Practical Guide to Building Neuro-Affirmative Friendships" by Hwee Peng Tan

Invited as beta reviewer to review the book: A Practical Guide to Building Neuro-Affirmative Friendships: How to Understand and Support Neurodivergent Friends by award-winning auth...

Awards and achievements

Youth Empowerment & Service Award 2024 by KCS Foundation in collaboration with Consulate General of India (for my work on mental health awareness- Thrive Hub)

Silver in UKMT Senior Mathematics Challenge

Certificate with Merit in Graded Examination in Communication Skills (Individual) from Trinity College London Grade 7 Levels

School Awards for Best Student in Year 12 in Spanish

Best Data Analysis Award at Dubai Science Fair 2025 for my project on Contribution of Childhood Trauma to Mental Health Disorders Later in Life

Jumeirah College-Highest Achiever Awards in Spanish

School Awards for Best Student in Year 12 in Spanish

Best Research Poster Award at Dubai Science Fair 2024 for my project on Role of Genes and Family History in Heart Disease Susceptibility

Jumeirah College-Highest Achiever Awards in Science

Silver in UKMT Junior Mathematics Challenge

Certificate with Merit in Graded Examination in Communication Skills (Individual) from Trinity College London Grade 6

Youth Empowerment & Service Award 2024 by KCS Foundation in collaboration with Consulate General of India (for my work on mental health awareness- Thrive Hub)

School Awards for Best Student in Year 12 in Spanish

Silver in UKMT Senior Mathematics Challenge

Best Research Poster Award at Dubai Science Fair 2024 for my project on Role of Genes and Family History in Heart Disease Susceptibility

Certificate with Merit in Graded Examination in Communication Skills (Individual) from Trinity College London Grade 7 Levels

Jumeirah College-Highest Achiever Awards in Science

School Awards for Best Student in Year 12 in Spanish

Silver in UKMT Junior Mathematics Challenge

Best Data Analysis Award at Dubai Science Fair 2025 for my project on Contribution of Childhood Trauma to Mental Health Disorders Later in Life

Certificate with Merit in Graded Examination in Communication Skills (Individual) from Trinity College London Grade 6

Jumeirah College-Highest Achiever Awards in Spanish