Paula Cadena, MS

Data Scientist Driving Social Impact Through Advanced Analytics

pcadena@uchicago.edu

Education

Master of Science in Computational Analysis and Public Policy

The University of Chicago
June 2025 (Expected)

Bachelor of Science in Economics

University of Los Andes
October 2020

Bachelor of Arts in Political Science

National University of Colombia
September 2014

Technical Skills

Programming Languages, Libraries & Tools

Python R SQL HTML/CSS JavaScript React AWS NumPy LaTeX Stata Git SSH

Software & Platforms

Power BI Tableau Power Query Power Automate Power Apps SharePoint Teams Planner

Languages

English Spanish

Professional Experience

Research Assistant

The University of Chicago Center for the Economics of Human Development
May 2024 – Present
  • Support the Early Childhood Intervention Comparison project by conducting impact evaluation and cost-benefit analysis of micro longitudinal data to identify mechanisms driving outcomes
  • Identify commonalities in mechanisms generating effects across programs through mediation/moderation analyses

Data Analytics Intern

The University of Chicago Crime and Education Lab
July 2024 – September 2024
  • Developed high-dosage tutoring interventions addressing pandemic-induced learning loss
  • Conducted data cleaning and statistical analysis for Chicago Public Schools collaboration

Data Integration Consultant

The Special Jurisdiction for Peace - Colombia
August 2023 – June 2024
  • Spearheaded SharePoint system design optimizing document organization
  • Migrated and organized 1.48TB of data using Python, eliminating 51.58% duplicates
  • Developed PowerApps search application with advanced filtering capabilities
  • Managed integration of legal documents for case analysis processes

Graduate Teaching Assistant

The University of Chicago Booth School of Business
January 2024 – March 2024
  • Guided 25 students weekly with code reviews and data analytics using R/Python
  • Evaluated assignments for 100+ students and collaborated on assessment design

Senior Data Analyst

Bogota Chamber of Commerce
February 2022 – July 2023
  • Led monitoring of 20 programs through dashboard development and process design
  • Automated data cleaning for 4M+ observations using Python (Pandas/NumPy)
  • Implemented ML segmentation achieving 85% test accuracy for 2M+ companies
  • Mentored 5 team members in Python and Power BI best practices

Teaching Assistant

University of Los Andes Department of Economics
February 2022 – June 2023
  • Provided pedagogical support for "Ethics and Economics" course across 3 semesters

Academic Manager of Postgraduate Programs

University of Los Andes
February 2020 – February 2022
  • Directed academic programs supporting 350+ students and 42 faculty members
  • Automated document generation reducing manual steps by 67% (9 → 3 steps)
  • Developed Power Automate flows cutting response time by 50%
  • Integrated databases enabling collaborative work for 10+ team members