diff --git a/src/controllers/badgeController.js b/src/controllers/badgeController.js
index 0df008386..21f34ad66 100644
--- a/src/controllers/badgeController.js
+++ b/src/controllers/badgeController.js
@@ -43,29 +43,14 @@ const badgeController = function (Badge) {
   };
 
   /**
-   * Updated Date: 12/06/2023
-   * Updated By: Shengwei
+   * Updated Date: 12/17/2023
+   * Updated By: Roberto
    * Function added:
-   * - Added data validation for earned date and badge count mismatch.
-   * - Added fillEarnedDateToMatchCount function to resolve earned date and badge count mismatch.
    * - Refactored data validation for duplicate badge id.
    * - Added data validation for badge count should greater than 0.
-   * - Added formatDate function to format date to MMM-DD-YY.
+   * - Added logic to combine duplicate badges into one with updated properties.
    */
 
-  const formatDate = () => {
-    const currentDate = new Date(Date.now());
-    return moment(currentDate).tz('America/Los_Angeles').format('MMM-DD-YY');
-  };
-
-  const fillEarnedDateToMatchCount = (earnedDate, count) => {
-    const result = [...earnedDate];
-    while (result.length < count) {
-      result.push(formatDate());
-    }
-    return result;
-  };
-
   const assignBadges = async function (req, res) {
     if (!(await hasPermission(req.body.requestor, 'assignBadges'))) {
       res.status(403).send('You are not authorized to assign badges.');
@@ -79,48 +64,72 @@ const badgeController = function (Badge) {
         res.status(400).send('Can not find the user to be assigned.');
         return;
       }
-      const badgeCounts = {};
-      let newBadgeCollection = [];
-      // This line is using the forEach function to group badges in the badgeCollection
-      // array in the request body.
-      // Validation: No duplicate badge id;
-      try {
-        newBadgeCollection = req.body.badgeCollection.map((element) => {
-          if (badgeCounts[element.badge]) {
-            throw new Error('Duplicate badges sent in.');
-            // res.status(500).send('Duplicate badges sent in.');
-            // return;
+
+      const badgeGroups = req.body.badgeCollection.reduce((grouped, item) => {
+        const { badge } = item;
+
+        if (typeof item.count !== 'number') {
+          item.count = Number(item.count);
+          if (Number.isNaN(item.count)) {
+            return grouped;
           }
-          badgeCounts[element.badge] = element.count;
-          // Validation: count should be greater than 0
-          if (element.count < 1) {
-            throw new Error('Badge count should be greater than 0.');
+        }
+        // if count is 0, skip
+        if (item.count === 0) {
+          return grouped;
+        }
+
+        if (!grouped[badge]) {
+          // If the badge is not in the grouped object, add a new entry
+          grouped[badge] = {
+            count: item.count,
+            lastModified: item.lastModified ? item.lastModified : Date.now(),
+            featured: item.featured || false,
+            earnedDate: item.earnedDate,
+          };
+        } else {
+          // If the badge is already in the grouped object, update properties
+          grouped[badge].count += item.count;
+          grouped[badge].lastModified = Date.now();
+          grouped[badge].featured = grouped[badge].featured || item.featured || false;
+
+          // Combine and sort earnedDate arrays
+          if (Array.isArray(item.earnedDate)) {
+            const combinedEarnedDate = [...grouped[badge].earnedDate, ...item.earnedDate];
+            const timestampArray = combinedEarnedDate.map((date) => new Date(date).getTime());
+            timestampArray.sort((a, b) => a - b);
+            grouped[badge].earnedDate = timestampArray.map((timestamp) => new Date(timestamp).toLocaleDateString('en-US', { month: 'short', day: 'numeric', year: '2-digit' })
+              .replace(/ /g, '-')
+              .replace(',', ''));
           }
-          return element;
-        });
-      } catch (err) {
-        res
-          .status(500)
-          .send(`Internal Error: Badge Collection. ${err.message}`);
-        return;
-      }
-      record.badgeCollection = newBadgeCollection;
+        }
+
+        return grouped;
+      }, {});
+
+      // Convert badgeGroups object to array
+      const badgeGroupsArray = Object.entries(badgeGroups).map(([badge, data]) => ({
+        badge,
+        count: data.count,
+        lastModified: data.lastModified,
+        featured: data.featured,
+        earnedDate: data.earnedDate,
+      }));
+
+      record.badgeCollection = badgeGroupsArray;
 
       if (cache.hasCache(`user-${userToBeAssigned}`)) {
         cache.removeCache(`user-${userToBeAssigned}`);
       }
-      // Save Updated User Profile
+
       record
-        .save()
-        .then((result) => {
-          // TO-DO - add user back to cache. For some reason, the saved records lead to badge img loading failure in frontend.
-          // cache.setCache(`user-${userToBeAssigned}`, JSON.stringify(result));
-          res.status(201).send(result._id);
-        })
-        .catch((err) => {
-          logger.logException(err);
-          res.status(500).send('Internal Error: Unable to save the record.');
-        });
+      .save()
+      .then((results) => {
+        res.status(201).send(results._id);
+      })
+      .catch((err) => {
+        res.status(500).send(`Internal Error: Badge Collection. ${err.message}`);
+      });
     });
   };