Gaurav Gaonkar

Gaurav Gaonkar has gained extensive work experience in various roles and industries. Gaurav started their career at Kraft Foods as a Research Assistant, where they worked on a project involving the enzymatic modification of milk proteins. Gaurav then joined Johns Hopkins University as a Research Assistant, focusing on telomere research and pancreatic cancer cells. At the Illinois Institute of Technology, they worked as a Research Assistant, specializing in macromolecular protein plate crystallography methods. Gaurav also worked at Valent Biosciences as a Lab Manager and Lead Research Technician, where they contributed to the development of new bioassays and screened for antifungal efficacy. Gaurav then took on roles at Sylvan Learning, serving as an Assistant Regional Manager and Lead Teacher, providing teaching support and helping students achieve their academic goals. In their role as an Emergency Preparedness Intern at the City of Evanston, Gaurav enhanced emergency dispensing plans and conducted critical data analysis. Gaurav later became the Emergency Response Coordinator for the same organization before transitioning to the Village of Oak Park as the Emergency Preparedness and Response Coordinator. In this role, they served as the primary emergency management professional, overseeing written correspondence, training, and long-term planning for emergency preparedness. Gaurav played a key role in the Village's COVID-19 response, serving as the Emergency Operations Center Director and the POD Manager/Operations Section Chief for vaccination clinics. Gaurav is currently working at Juvare as a Solutions Implementation Analyst and aspires to continue utilizing their skills and expertise in the field of emergency preparedness and response.

Gaurav Gaonkar completed their education with a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Biochemistry from the Illinois Institute of Technology, where they attended from 2007 to 2012. Following this, they pursued a Master's Degree in Public Health at Benedictine University from 2013 to 2017.