Over the next 6 weeks we’ll be highlighting our wonderful new group of
2021 Summer Program students.
Alena Figueroa is a senior at the University of Hawaii – West Oahu, majoring in natural sciences with a concentration in applied mathematics. She plans to graduate in 2021 and later attend graduate school to earn a master’s degree in biostatistics. Last summer, Alena participated in Iowa’s Summer Institute in Biostatistics, where she worked on a project analyzing longitudinal data from the Parkinson’s Progressive Markers Initiative (PPMI). It was during this research experience that Alena discovered her interest in biostatistics, as it combined her passion for mathematics and statistics with her desire to improve public health. Her long-term career goal is to work as a biostatistician and aid in understanding diseases and their progression.
Donell Grant goes by D.J.! He is going into his senior year at George Mason University with a major in Statistics with a concentration in Applied Statistics and a Minor in Mathematics. D.J. is graduating in the Spring of 2022 with plans to go to graduate school shortly after. He would like to study a statistics related topic and believes this program will give him a better idea of what specifically he would like to study. After grad school, D.J. would like to find himself in a career that allows him the opportunity to help others, with his preferred path being research in the medical field.
