One University of Florida undergraduate student participated in a pilot spring break research experience which merged the use of artificial intelligence, computational pathology and cell biology, and health services research.
One University of Florida undergraduate student participated in a pilot spring break research experience which merged the use of artificial intelligence, computational pathology and cell biology, and health services research.
Nicholas Sherwin, a health sciences major in the Department of Health Services Research, Management and Policy, joined several other interdisciplinary interns as a part of the NIH Human BioMolecular Atlas Program (HuBMAP) – a pilot program aimed at opening a global platform to map healthy cells in the human body. Interns learned about cell mapping techniques with application toward a UF project which focuses on computational pathology and imaging of the kidney.
The CIMAP Spring Research Experience was piloted by Dr. Yulia Levites-Strekalova, Assistant Professor, and Keymira Frost, Research and Evaluation Coordinator in the department of Health Services Research, Management and Policy, with additional collaboration from colleagues in the UF College of Medicine and external collaborators. Dr. Pinaki Sarder, Associate Professor of AI in the Section of Quantitative Health of the Department of Medicine and Associate Director for Imaging in the Intelligent Critical Care Center, is the Principal Investigator on the grant for this project.
Frost pointed out that the project allowed her team to mentor and provide underrepresented students with the necessary tools to be successful in research:
“This pilot experience was very beneficial. Underrepresented students deserve experiences that help provide them with the tools to be successful and level the playing field in STEM and research. It is my hope,” said Frost, “that this program will not only continue at the University of Florida but will spread across other universities.”
More information about the HuBMAP project can be found on the project page here.