Featuring some of my projects beyond data science.
Strategic Research Plan for CHOPS Syndrome
For Neurodevelopmental Disorders (NSC 3891), I researched CHOPS syndrome, an extremely rare neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by cognitive impairments, coarse facial features, heart defects, obesity, pulmonary involvement, short stature, and skeletal dysplasia. As of 2024, this disease has only 2 official peer-reviewed journal articles documenting key features of the disease and brief descriptions of its genetic underpinnings.
I worked closely with Lainey Moseley—a mother of a patient with CHOPS syndrome and also the founder of CHOPS Syndrome Global, a patient advocacy group for patients with CHOPS syndrome—to create a disease concept model (details the impact of the disease on the patient and caregiver). I investigated mechanisms of the disease and explored potential treatments using the limited basic and clinical research available online, and I identified key aspects for the advocacy group to focus on in the coming years.
To learn more about CHOPS syndrome and its patient advocacy groups, click here for the official CHOPS syndrome foundation, which is currently raising money for treatment research.
Read Paper | View Presentation
Gut-Wrenching: The Dangers of Gut Dysbiosis and Metabolic Dysregulation
I was selected to be a William C. Dement Fellow by the Sleep and Chronobiology Research Lab at Brown University for summer 2023. A key aspect of the fellowship is a literature review for a topic of interest related to sleep and circadian rhythms alongside an expert in the field.
I investigated the interactions between sleep deficiency, circadian rhythms, risk of cardiovascular diseases, and digestion. I read 40+ peer-reviewed journal articles in preparation for this literature review and created a poster and a slideshow presentation regarding the subject. Due to the vast amount of information I found, I split the information across mediums, focusing primarily on the circadian misalignment and cardiovascular system for the poster and gut dysbiosis mechanisms and implications for the slideshow. Contact me directly for access to the slideshow.
Replicating Reading: Modeling Developmental Dyslexia
For Neural Models of Cognitive Development (PSY-PC 3650), we were asked to replicate or formulate our own computational model using the Light, Efficient Network Simulator (LENS) software which provides a peek inside the “Black Box” of a neural network. I replicated the computational distributed developmental dyslexia model created by Harm & Seidenberg (1999), inspired by readings and course content in Language and the Brain (PSY-PC 3190).
Given the limitations of LENS, the training and testing sets were heavily simplified which resulted in low accuracy rates. Despite these low accuracy rates, observations of the node activations across rhyming training examples indicated fascinating patterns across training sets. Below is my paper regarding the project. Though lengthy, the paper explores every facet of the project in great detail.
The Interplay of the Gut Microbiome and the Circadian Clock
During my senior fall semester, I took Biological Clocks (BSCI 3230) with Dr. Carl H. Johnson and fell in love with circadian rhythms research and the many health implications of the research. I wanted to dive deeper from my literature review during the William C. Dement Fellowship on the relationship between the gut microbiome and circadian rhythms while leveraging Dr. Johnson’s expertise with bacterial circadian clocks.
Throughout my lit review in summer 2023, I noticed a few issues with the methodologies being used in this area of research. With the intention of investigating this and improving my skills in critiquing scientific research, Dr. Johnson graciously mentored me in an independent study (NSC 3851) during my senior spring semester.
Achieving the Perfect Form: a Mini Ethnography
This mini ethnography focuses on the “gym rat” subculture at Vanderbilt University. As a serial experimenter in diet and exercise fads and with the recent rise in the popularity of weightlifting and strength training, I was interested in how gym rat culture may be affecting views of body image, intrigued by the interplay between body image, gender identity, and capitalism. In a world where our physical bodies influence and are influenced by our identities, I was interested in how people of all ages come to perceive and understand their body image, via Cartesian ideas of mind-body dualism or via other interpretations or awareness of the self, and how one’s body image is socially constructed.
To fully engage with the gym rat subculture, I actively participated and observed the rituals and behavior of Vanderbilt students at the Recreation & Wellness Center and the dining halls to see how their gym rat identity shapes their diet choices. From my fieldwork and interviews with gym rats, I saw theories discussed in my anthropology class come to life: the cognizance of gender performativity, the blurring of gender norms, and the societal defiance of gym rat culture. I reexamined how society produces and perpetuates unrealistic physical standards on Vanderbilt’s campus. Subsequently, I began the process of dismantling the unhealthy body image and distorted perception of health and wellness I had long carried. This reconceptualization through an anthropological lens of body neutrality taught me how qualitative and ethnographic research can impact people on the individual level.