Mia Eldaher, an 11th grader at South Fayette High School, was searching for an opportunity to conduct a research project from start to finish. That search led her to CompBio Academy at the University of Pittsburgh this summer.
CompBio Academy is a division of the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center Academy, a seven-week program designed to prepare high schoolers to pursue careers in STEM and medicine. CompBio Academy introduces students to the fields of computational structural biology, drug discovery, genomics and systems biology.
“Doing research was a way to actively learn, while not just sitting in a classroom and taking in information,” Eldaher said.
During her time at CompBio Academy, Eldaher worked in Associate Professor Dennis Kostka’s lab on genomics and machine learning projects. She focused on predicting functional mechanisms behind genetic variants related to coronary artery disease.
Immersing herself in machine learning models was a learning curve, but Eldaher said the program introduced her to new ways of researching. Eldaher, who had hoped to study medicine, appreciated the accessibility and open-source nature of machine learning.
“I definitely want to continue doing research in my career, and now I don’t feel like I need to limit my career path to being a physician. I can do machine learning research on my own,” she said.
She also valued the small class size of CompBio Academy, which gave her the chance to connect with other high school students interested in STEM.
“We all went out for lunch, and it was always really fun to get a break from sitting at a desk and coding,” she said. “It was cool to meet new people.”
As Eldaher enters her junior year of high school, she is prepared for new challenges with the hands-on research skill set she gained this summer.
“Coming to Hillman was such a cool experience because I wasn’t limited to going to the same mall with the same people and doing the same things. I could have a completely new experience,” she said.