I participated in the Harvard/MIT HST BIG summer program the summer after my freshman year in college and found it to be the gateway to numerous opportunities both in research and in clinical study. During my time with the BIG program, my project was focused on increasing the amount of health data retrieved from Francophone Africa through the use of data mining and curation methods, specifically focusing on information about infectious disease outbreaks in these regions. My project has contributed to a vast collection of health metrics that are currently being used to monitor events such as the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and the current Zika Virus epidemic. This system also allows both the general public and health organizations like the CDC to keep track of the health of some of the most at risk communities. This project served as an amazing internship experience that at the end of the summer extended into a job offer. I still currently work at HealthMap remotely from Seattle as the curator for all Francophone data feeds and have been building on my project since my summer with BIG.
The BIG summer program is a highly selective and intensive residential research initiative that allows students to meet and interact with those at the top of their fields and conduct independent projects that not only create new knowledge, but help build skills that can’t be cultivated in a classroom environment. Students who take part in the BIG program are uniquely challenged alongside the brightest of their fellow students through participation in talks and research presentations and build lasting relationships with other participants. Taking part of this program was especially exciting for me because admission to freshmen is rarely extended and I was the youngest in my cohort. Because of this program, I have been able to have behind the scenes access to how disease epidemics are monitored and play a vital role in the control and prevention of these emerging diseases. This work has also afforded me the opportunity to present at a national STEM conference in Washington DC where I was awarded first prize for undergraduate oral presentations.
The BIG summer program is a highly selective and intensive residential research initiative that allows students to meet and interact with those at the top of their fields and conduct independent projects that not only create new knowledge, but help build skills that can’t be cultivated in a classroom environment. Students who take part in the BIG program are uniquely challenged alongside the brightest of their fellow students through participation in talks and research presentations and build lasting relationships with other participants. Taking part of this program was especially exciting for me because admission to freshmen is rarely extended and I was the youngest in my cohort. Because of this program, I have been able to have behind the scenes access to how disease epidemics are monitored and play a vital role in the control and prevention of these emerging diseases. This work has also afforded me the opportunity to present at a national STEM conference in Washington DC where I was awarded first prize for undergraduate oral presentations.