Exposure to professional conferences is a vital part of the UW Biostatistics student experience. Thanks to student support funding, 15 current students were able to attend keynote sessions, panel discussions and short courses offered through the 6th Seattle Symposium in Biostatistics: Precision Medicine in the Age of Data Science in November 2020.
“There was a wide variety of topics covered and speakers from diverse backgrounds – university, research center, FDA, NCI, industry - so I got to learn about a topic from multiple perspectives,” said PhD student Yichen Lu.
Fellow PhD student Yilin Song agreed, “It was really great to just listen to what the experts in each field are doing and their perspectives about research or some ongoing problem like COVID.”
For first-year MS Capstone student Niki Petrakos, the Symposium opened doors to possible career options. “It was such a valuable resource; to have access to so much information about so many different fields that a biostatistican like myself could one day pursue.”
Students found the short courses to be particularly useful in assisting with research and academic projects.
“The machine learning with causal inference module definitely covered ideas that I can use in an applied research project I've been working on,” said PhD student Yiqun Chen.
Second-year MS Capstone student Joanna Xiao participated in the Introduction to biomarker signature development and its use in clinical medicine short course. “The course left a deep impression on me,” says Xiao. “The capstone project I am working on is somewhat related to the content in the course. The course helped me to better understand my capstone project and to think about it from a different perspective.”
If you are interested in supporting students, make a gift to the Student Support Fund or engage with Biostat students by sponsoring a Capstone Project, participating in a career panel, or becoming a mentor. Contact Minh Vo at biostcapgp@uw.edu with your interests and opportunities.
