Zachary Beaver

I studied Biology and Computer Science in undergrad, and the emerging role of Data Scientists seems to be a confluence of the aspects I enjoyed in both subjects. As a result, I have a strong desire to apply the tools to handle large data sets to genetics at population-scale to empower individuals in making informed decisions that result in longer, more fruitful lives. I've previously interned in the Bioinformatics Department at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and helped conduct clinical research at Steadman Hawkins Clinic of the Carolinas, which has given me an inkling of the possibilities that Data Science can have in relation health care.

With medicine becoming more tailored to diseases’ genetic causes, rather than just their bodily effects, the field is quickly becoming inundated with data, and the methods to integrate this new intelligence with traditional information (i.e. background, family history, vitals, diet, etc.) and cross-reference it with published studies are not currently standardized. I want to be in the mix, making sense of this data and hopefully opening the door for accurate, predictive healthcare analytics. I hope that the ability to predict ailments in a probabilistic model and then prescribe preventative measures will drastically lower healthcare costs and improve overall societal health. This is my passion, and I want to connect with people of a similar vision and greater depth of knowledge to bolster my skill set and understanding of the challenges that face personalized medicine.