What is your academic background? What research experience did you have before grad school?

I completed a master’s degree in computer science before joining the Stowers Institute for Medical Research as a bioinformatics analyst.

 

What is your research area and why is it exciting?

 

I am currently researching advanced topics in protein engineering that integrate functional data from directed evolution experiments with machine learning. Our goal is design new intracellular biosensors for applications in sustainable energy and medicine discovery.

 

Why did you choose BIG?

 

Harvard is the ultimate destination for BIG studies by offering the student flexibility in research topics across hundreds of affiliated labs, emphasis on independent decision making, and by encouraging synergy with the surrounding research community.

 

What was your favorite class and why?

 

My favorite course has been Systems Biology 204: Biomolecular Engineering and Synthetic Biology. The course encouraged me to imagine biotechnological solutions to grand challenges in climate change and water desalination, for example, and ultimately inspired me to join a synthetic biology and bioengineering laboratory.

 

How do you like living in Boston? What do you do when you are not working?

 

Boston is a very connected town, whereby many universities and industries co-exist within a few miles of each other. This permits a lot of interchange of ideas and opportunities for partnerships. Away from the lab I can be found rowing/sailing on the Charles river or ocean, skiing the nearby White and Green Mountains, or mountain biking around the city.

 

What advice would you give to college students who are interested in a PhD in genomics/bioinformatics?

 

The field moves fast — try to consolidate your gains/skills with publications and presentations so you can move on to the next technology or approach. Continuously reinvent yourself — trust in yourself that you can learn whatever new computer skills, math, algorithms, chemistry, or physics are needed for a given research question. Most of all: viam inveniam aut faciam