Twelve ambitious undergraduates from across the United States traveled to New York City this summer to participate in the popular, NIA-funded GPH program known as Pathways into Quantitative Aging Research (PQAR). Faculty and staff from the Department of Biostatistics hosted their fourth successful cohort as students explored substantive courses, innovative research and fun in the Big Apple!
Guided by interdisciplinary GPH faculty including Drs. Prince Amegbor, Mari Armstrong-Hough, Adolfo Cuevas and Hai Shu, students gained skills in statistics, computing and epidemiology, made connections through research projects with faculty and peers, and worked toward public health solutions to aging-related diseases.
The culminating experience was a day-long symposium attended by over 60 guests, including seven 2023 program alumni. First up was keynote speaker Dr. Lisa L. Barnes, a neuropsychologist at Rush University Medical College who researches the impact of social determinants of health on the African American aging process. She encouraged centering diversity in cognitive aging research, and wants to shift the paradigm about what we learn and how we think about disease. Her goal is to engage with communities, explaining what the data says and why it’s important.
Next came a panel discussion; 2023 program alumni presented their current research and gave an update on their academic progress. Torriana Avery told her peers that PQAR pushed her into a trajectory she never expected. “I'm going to apply for my master’s degree in applied biostatistics and epidemiology. I got an internship because I talked to a woman at the ENAR Datafest competition. I have way more experience in coding than I could ever imagine. I'm very happy to be the lead analyst on a project working with a pathology department, and I also work with a doctor for critically ill children in the pediatric intensive unit. It's been a wonderful experience,” she concluded.
Fellow alum Jessica Sanchez also benefitted from her PQAR experience. “The qualitative project I'm working on now uses different approaches, so having transferable basic research skills has been really helpful. Honestly, prior to participating in this program I didn't see myself as a researcher, but now that's my job! A lot of the support that I received was really helpful,” she said.
Finally, the 2024 PQAR students gave formal presentations on their research projects, expertly answering questions from an audience that included their families and friends. Some also shared their favorite takeaways from the program. Donjhai Holland’s deep dive into programming with R and machine learning models gave her the hands-on experience that broadened her technical skill set; she also described exploring iconic landmarks and attending her first ever Broadway show. But, she said, “The most rewarding part was the people: My cohort of brilliant, passionate individuals quickly became not just colleagues but friends.”
Carlos Rubin de Celis described his research under the supervision of Dr. Cuevas and doctoral student Cindy Patippe, which looked at the relationship between self-reported discrimination and chronic inflammation. He refined his skills in quality assurance and statistical analysis, and took coursework “which heavily contributed to my knowledge and continued joy in biostatistics and the field of public health!”
The month of August for the PQAR program is devoted to updates, review of evaluations, development of next year’s recruitment strategy and planning for year-round support of conference attendance, office hours, and J term. As the program enters the fifth year of the grant, everyone in the Department of Biostatistics is hopeful it will be renewed. In just four years, the program has positively impacted the lives of 48 undergraduates, including some who are starting PhD programs in Biostatistics and related fields this September! For more information and engaging stories of PQAR “from the field,” check out this I AM GPH podcast which features a conversation with 2023 alumni Abena Dinizulu and Stephanie Perez, and hear first-hand about their PQAR experiences.
