Dara was a Visiting Student at the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing from 5 June 2022 to 11 August 2023.

She is a student at Harvard University, where she concentrates in Social Studies with a secondary in Economics. Her academic focus is on the socioeconomic development of postcolonial societies, particularly sub-Saharan Africa. She has extensive experience in development studies through various opportunities, such as conducting academic research for the UN Development Program Pacific Office, creating US-Africa/MENA policy recommendations with the Harvard Undergraduate Foreign Policy Initiative, writing for the Harvard International Review, consulting on development projects with a USAID-funded organization in Uganda, and serving as a student ambassador for the Harvard Kennedy School Center for International Development and a delegate at the World Bank Youth Summit.

Her research will focus on the impact of demographic shifts on the future social and economic development of sub-Saharan Africa and how governments and other institutions can help support the region's progress.