Graduate Program

Alejandro Cruz Setzekorn

GIDS-REM Fellow

HOMETOWN: Coral Gables, FL

UNDERGRAD DEGREE: BS Physics and BA in International Relations from Florida International University, 2022

WHY ROCHESTER: The close relationship the data science program has with the University of Rochester’s Medical Center and the offer of the GIDS‐REM fellowship.

• Sam Norman‐Haignere—Developing computational and experimental methods to understand the representation of complex, natural stimuli in the human brain and applies these methods to understand the neural and computational mechanisms that underlie human hearing
• Caitlin Dreisbach—Use of quantitative methods to make better clinical assessments during pregnancy

SUMMER INTERNSHIP: My summer research experience is at the URMC Center of Translational Neuromedicine (CTN), specifically within the Goldman Lab. The work in this lab is focused on studying and understanding how stem and progenitor cells are regulated within the human central nervous system (CNS). Progenitor cells, similar to stem cells, can proliferate and differentiate into target cells, but are more limited in their proliferation abilities as they age. This limitation becomes significant when autoimmune disorders affect these cells and their functions, leading to long-term neurological damage.

The Goldman Lab aims to leverage the knowledge being gained here to develop gene and cell therapies to treat and reverse many of the effects that various demyelinating neurological conditions have on these cells, such as with Huntington’s disease and multiple sclerosis. With a key focus on glial progenitor cells, the lab hopes to modify and promote neural repair and reverse the neural damage inflected by such disorders.

HOW THE PROGRAM TRANSFORMED ME: It is an incredible opportunity for me to work in such an area of research and within this lab. The subject matter is very close to heart, and I have been fortunate to learn so much from the extremely talented researchers around me. I have and will continue to use many of the skills and tools I’ve acquired and worked with as a data science master’s student here at UR, particularly by leveraging my ability to apply machine learning and data analysis tools and techniques within the field of genomics.

FUTURE PLANS: I plan on applying for PhD programs following my graduation and hope to combine my physics knowledge with data science within the field of genomics and biological sciences to continue researching neurological health conditions.

Ludia Pack

GIDS-REM Fellow

HOMETOWN: Anaheim, CA

PRIOR DEGREES: Transferred from the SUNY Buffalo and completed a BS Microbiology from University of Rochester, 2018; MS in Genetics, 2021

WHY ROCHESTER: Currently working on redox/Fyn/c‐Cbl Pathway in cancer subtypes and 4‐Aminopyridine in the treatment of toxic chemotherapeutic effects with Mark D. Nobel.

• Matt McCall—Statistical genomics; Systems biology; Bioinformatics
• Juilee Thakar—Bioinformatics; Systems biology; Dynamic Modeling Tools

SUMMER INTERNSHIP: My summer research experience is at the URMC Genomics Core. The work is focused on utilizing publicly accessible TCGA gene expression datasets in tandem with an internal dataset to discover whether a unique gene signature exists for recurrent leukemias.

FUTURE PLANS: To be a genomics researcher/analyst in industry.

• PhD candidate, Genetics, School of Medicine and Dentistry
• MS candidate in Data Science, expected completion May 2025

Dennis Enrique Salinas Mejia

HOMETOWN: Danli, HONDURAS

UNDERGRAD DEGREE: BS Biochemistry and minor in Epidemiology from University of Rochester, 2022

PRIOR EXPERIENCES: I have been working as a technical associate at the University of Rochester Center for Translational Neuromedicine in the Goldman Lab since I graduated. I also had a prior internship at Vaccinex, Inc during undergrad.

WHY ROCHESTER: I chose this UR program because of the advantage in learning from a research‐intensive university about a diversity of biomedical approaches at the intersection of data science and biology. The proximity to the UR medical center and research groups on campus also opens the opportunity to take part in a diversity of research areas.

• Patrick Murphy—Mechanisms that activate or silence genes as cells transition from one state to another. In very early embryos, stem cells begin to divide and change
• Amanda Larracuente—Evolutionary genetics and genomics; Intragenomic conflict and the evolution of selfish DNA; Evolutionary and functional genomics of satellite DNA; Sex chromosome and dot chromosome evolution in Drosophila

SUMMER RESEARCH: I am a research specialist at the Center for Translational Neuromedicine (CTN), a department focused on “understanding the regulatory control of stem and progenitor cells of the human central nervous system (CNS), and to utilize that knowledge to design new approaches for treating neurological diseases, primarily using cell and gene therapy.” Within the Aging brain research group, we use multiple bulk and single-cell genomic tools to understand cell states and self-renewal with the goal of rejuvenating CNS glial progenitor cells. My summer internship experience will be focused on these projects involving genomic research.

HOW THE PROGRAM TRANSFORMED ME: Coming from a mainly biology background, the Data science program is helping me prepare to apply novel analytical tools such as ML for the thorough investigation of biological questions. For the data mining course project, we investigated the gene expression patterns that characterize Adrenocortical cancer patients using available data from the TCGA. Seeing biological pathways and correlations with disease outcome made me become interested in the application of these analytical tools to investigate complex biological questions.

FUTURE PLANS: Become a bioinformatics data scientist knowledgeable in both the biologicalsystems and analytical tools to make field specific comprehension of the data.