Working alongside Rochester faculty mentors, a data science master鈥檚 student analyzes how turning genes on and off can impact neurodegenerative diseases.
Alejandro Cruz Setzekorn wants to harness the power of data science to help develop new forms of neuromedicine and fight neurodegenerative diseases. 鈥淚n my mind, data science is one of the most powerful tools that a scientist can leverage,鈥� he says.
Cruz, who is pursuing a , got his first opportunity to contribute to research in the field over the summer while interning as a bioinformatician in the laboratory of , a distinguished professor of and , and the co-director of Rochester鈥檚 , at the 蘑菇传媒 .
The lab is exploring techniques to induce remyelination鈥攔ebuilding nerves鈥� ability to form sheaths for improved conduction鈥攖o help combat neurodegenerative diseases such as Huntington鈥檚 disease and multiple sclerosis. Cruz focused on epigenetic work, using bioinformatics tools to compare regions of the genome where histone modifications can alter the regulation and transcription of DNA across different cell samples. He says the work has been enlightening.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a steep learning curve but really interesting work and I鈥檓 glad I got to be a part of it,鈥� says Cruz, who studied physics and international relations at Florida International University. 鈥淚 want to continue building my skills in coding and machine learning because I think it鈥檚 a really cool tool to apply in the field of medicine. I feel really grateful for the lab, the people I鈥檝e met here, and my data science cohort in general.鈥�
Cruz is part of the first of Genomic Intensive Data Science Research, Education, and Mentorship (GIDS-REM) fellows. The program, partially funded by the National Institutes for Health, provides students on the genomics track full-tuition scholarships, guarantees them internships, and connects them with mentors.
, an assistant professor of , , and neuroscience, is one of Cruz鈥檚 mentors and connected him with the internship. Cruz says another mentor, , an assistant professor at the and the聽, has provided him invaluable experience navigating the data science program because she has a master鈥檚 in data science as well.
Upon completing the 19-month data science MS program in December, Cruz hopes to build on the skills he鈥檚 learned through the program鈥檚 classes, workshops, seminars, and internship experience by pursuing a PhD and further research opportunities.
