Biochemistry Personal Statement

Ever since my introduction to research in high school, I have a passion towards health and the environment. During my first internship, I studied honeybee health at USDA. I found it fascinating how different viruses can affect the population and health of honeybees. I began wanting to learn more about health-related research when I entered university. In the beginning of my time at the University of Maryland (UMD), I was unsure of what it was exactly I wanted to focus on, so I chose biochemistry as my major since I wanted to preform medical research to help find a way to cure and treat diseases. Now looking back at my studies and research experiences, the part I enjoyed most was collecting and analyzing data. While I was interested in public

I liked solving problems and being able to help others when they did not understand. To me math just clicked. Math is a large part of science, from finding concentrations to modeling theory. I like using models to find sense in my data and becoming confident that I can present my data as well as possible. Throughout my college and work years, I have had many experiences in gathering data for different projects from entomology to clinical trials to immunology. I was taught to work with various applications and models to make the data we gathered make sense. I was most intrigued in finding what the data meant and how it can be applied to the question we were trying to solve. Data-driven science is an important tool for medical and future disease predication improvement, and I want to be a part of that

I have taken a gap year after college and am currently working with Dr. Keegan at UMB-SOM. We are looking at the role of type 2 macrophages (M2) in allergic asthmatic response, in particular with environmental stimuli. Asthma is a large problem in the world, especially for young children. Understanding how M2 cells participate in allergic response can help us gain a deeper understanding of asthma and thus lead to better prevention and treatment, especially in young children. This experience is an eye- opener in the different realms of public health and how many different types of scientists come together to find the source of a problem and to mitigate it. This experience has given me great insight on what it means to be a biostatistician. Not only have I talked to biostatisticians at UMB, but I have gone to a couple of UMB talks where I listened to some great researchers and biostatistician explain their research. The talks made me realize that becoming a biostatistician is what I want to do in helping understand disease mechanisms. My experiences have inspired me to want to deepen my understanding of biostatistics and its