Where am I now?

I am a PhD student and NSF Graduate Research Fellow with Eric Alm in the Department of Biological Engineering at MIT. My research revolves around using high-throughput data, computational analyses, and principles from ecology and evolution to understand problems in human health.

• Can we treat or prevent diseases (e.g., inflammatory bowel disease) by manipulating the gut microbiome—the bacteria, fungi, and viruses that live in our gut?
• Can we diagnose diseases that lack robust clinical tests (e.g., depression) using metabolomics—a method that simultaneously measures thousands of molecules in blood or urine?

Beyond human health, I also spend a lot of time thinking about sustainability and conservation. I pursue personal growth outside of science through alpinism (blog) and rock climbing (mountain project profile).

Where am I going?

In my next stage, I am pivoting from academia to entrepreneurship to bring my research closer to the people it benefits. I am exploring the following positions:

1. A postdoc aimed at proof-of-principle studies
2. Founding a company
3. Joining a small company

Where am I from?

I grew up on the Puget Sound near Seattle, Washington. I learned what I value and how to write from my mother. I learned how to be grateful for small moments from my father. I learned how to eat Kraft mac and cheese with chopsticks from my sister. And I learned who I am at YMCA Camp Orkila.

Computation

• Bioinformatic analysis: alignment, assembly, annotation, phylogenetics
• Statistical analysis and machine learning in Python and
• (Unix) environment and virtual environments
• Administration and scaling of cloud computing with

Data

• Genomic data: human genomes, bacterial genomes, viral genomes, metagenomics
• Gene expression data: single-cell RNA-seq, metatranscriptomics
• Metabolomic data
• Immune repertoire data: T cell receptors, B cell receptors

Experiments

• High-throughput data generation from clinical (e.g., blood, stool, biopsy) and environmental (e.g., water) samples
• Obtaining regulatory approval for clinical trials and research
• Bacterial isolation and genetic manipulation