Okorie Cynthia Kalu — Backend Developer

01 — About

Building APIs that
actually ship

I'm a backend developer specialising in Python, FastAPI, and PostgreSQL. I completed the ALX Backend Engineering Programme and have spent the last year building production-ready APIs from scratch.

Before tech, I spent 7 years in education and administration — managing systems, communicating across teams, and solving problems under pressure. That experience shapes how I build: with clarity, reliability, and attention to what users actually need.

My flagship project MediBook API is live in production — a healthcare appointment system with AI features, email notifications, background tasks, and Google OAuth. I don't just build things. I ship them.

Tech Stack

Python 3.13

FastAPI

PostgreSQL

SQLAlchemy 2.0

Alembic

JWT Auth

Google OAuth

OpenAI API

Celery

Redis

Docker

Render

Git / GitHub

Pydantic v2

REST APIs

Async Python

Education & Certifications

ALX Backend Engineering 2025

PGD — Public Health ABSUU

HND — Environmental Health Ebonyi

02 — Projects

Things I've
built and shipped

Featured · Live in Production

MediBook API

A production-ready smart healthcare appointment booking API. Clinics manage doctors and slots; patients book, cancel, and receive AI-powered recommendations — secured with JWT and Google OAuth.

FastAPIPostgreSQL SQLAlchemy 2.0OpenAI GPT-4o-mini Celery + RedisResend Google OAuthRender

↗ Live Demo ↗ GitHub

AI Smart Slot Suggester — analyses patient symptoms and recommends appointments by urgency level (low / medium / high)
MediBot Chatbot — context-aware assistant with full appointment history, rate-limited at 10 req/min via slowapi
Atomic Slot-Locking — prevents race conditions during concurrent bookings using transactional commits
Automated Email Flow — confirmation, cancellation, and 24h reminders via Celery background tasks and Resend
Production Hardening — 15s OpenAI timeout, 2-retry logic with response time logging for latency monitoring
Configurable Logging — LOG_LEVEL environment variable switches between INFO in production and DEBUG locally

Live · Production API

ScholarIQ AI

A production-ready AI writing and citation validation API. Generates structured academic content while detecting hallucinated references — secured with API key auth and rate limiting.

FastAPI Python Google Gemini google-genai Pydantic SlowAPI Docker Render

↗ Live Demo ↗ GitHub

AI Writing Engine — generates research outlines and long-form academic chapters
Citation Validator — detects suspicious, fabricated, or poorly structured references
Prompt Intelligence Layer — adapts output by writing type, category, and academic level
Streaming Responses — delivers long-form content in real time for faster UX
Rate-Limited API — protects endpoints with request throttling via SlowAPI
Modular Backend Design — clean separation of routes, services, models, and core logic

In Progress · Deploying Soon

Cerebro API

A production-ready real-time AI conversation API. Engage your ideas in a persistent Socratic dialogue — where the AI challenges assumptions, asks probing questions, and streams responses token-by-token — secured with JWT authentication.

FastAPI Python PostgreSQL SQLAlchemy 2.0 async OpenAI GPT-4o-mini Pydantic Docker Render

↗ GitHub

SSE Streaming Engine — delivers AI responses token-by-token in real time over Server-Sent Events
Socratic AI Partner — prompts the AI to challenge, question, and push ideas further rather than simply generate content
Persistent Idea Threads — create and manage multiple conversations with full message history stored in PostgreSQL
JWT Authentication — secure user registration, login, and protected endpoints
Async Architecture — fully async with SQLAlchemy 2.0 and asyncpg for high-performance database operations
Modular Backend Design — clean separation of endpoints, services, models, schemas, and core logic

03 — Experience

Where I've
been and built

2024 — Present

Backend Developer (Portfolio & Self-Directed)

Independent · Remote

Built and deployed three production-grade APIs using FastAPI, PostgreSQL, and OpenAI. Engaged publicly with senior engineers on X, received feedback from developers with 20+ years experience, and shipped improvements within 24 hours of each suggestion.

2025

ALX Backend Engineering Programme

ALX Africa · Remote

Intensive software engineering programme covering Python, backend systems, API design, databases, and deployment. Graduated with practical project experience.

2020 — 2022

Online Transcriber

Freelance · Remote

Delivered accurate transcription under tight deadlines, developing strong attention to detail and remote work discipline.

2017 — 2024

Classroom Teacher & School Administrator

Various Institutions · Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Managed administrative operations serving hundreds of students. Built strong communication, organisation, and leadership skills across high-pressure environments over 7 years.

04 — Contact

Let's work
together

I'm actively looking for a junior backend developer role — remote, on-site in Port Harcourt, anywhere in Nigeria, or international. If you're building something interesting and need a developer who ships, I'd love to hear from you.

OKORIECYNTHIA KALU

Building APIs thatactually ship

Things I'vebuilt and shipped