We’ll be featuring mini-profiles of our new PhD students over the next few weeks. We look forward to welcoming them into our community!
Dominic DiSantoHi! I’m Dominic DiSanto. I grew up in Knoxville and Bell Buckle, Tennessee before attending the University of Pittsburgh, where I received my B.S. in Neuroscience in 2018 and M.S. in Biostatistics in 2020.As an undergraduate I joined the research lab of a physiatrist, studying long- term recovery in individuals with moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury. This work included local cohort studies, collecting chronic neurologic and peripheral biomarker data, and membership in a national cohort study of individuals with severe head injury. Projects included building a clinical prediction model of post-traumatic seizure events and inferential studies of long-term mental health outcomes following brain injury.During and after my masters, I moved to a new position in Pittsburgh’s Veterans Affairs healthcare system as a biostatistician, primarily focused towards health equity and age-friendly healthcare system research. I also worked within Pitt’s School of Pharmacy to develop open-source, data science education materials for a target audience of pharmacy students with an interest or concentration in analytics.I hope to continue working within statistical education for audiences both statistical/technical and clinical. I am generally interested in causal inference, but I am eager to explore the many methodological areas of biostatistics beyond my initial interests and experiences!Outside of biostatistics, I like to run, find local spots for coffee, and (attempting to) play tennis. I also enjoy music and am hoping to explore Boston’s local, live-music scene!
Kim Greco
Hi there! My name is Kim Greco, and I grew up in Bethlehem Township, New Jersey. Despite my rural roots, I have spent the last eight years living, learning, and working right here in Boston, Massachusetts. I received my BS in health science and MPH in biostatistics and epidemiology from Boston University. Since graduation, I have been working as a biostatistician at Boston Children’s Hospital.I am passionate about translating (messy) data into actionable clinical insights that are accurate, precise, and reproducible. My research at Boston Children’s Hospital has focused on developing and evaluating clinical prediction models with applications to medical decision making, diagnostic accuracy, and biomarker discovery and validation. I have enjoyed working on a variety of projects, including the identification of gene-environment interactions that predict lung function in inner-city asthmatics; the assessment and characterization of neuropathic pain in children with complex regional pain syndrome; and the development of risk prediction models to identify factors contributing to mortality following extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.Participating in the rapidly emerging research that informs clinical practice at Boston Children’s Hospital has deepened my passion for biostatistics and my pursuit of new learning opportunities at Harvard School of Public Health. Looking ahead to doctoral research, I am particularly interested in statistical innovation that will support rare disease research; this includes understanding the genetic basis for these diseases, leveraging machine learning and causal inference to improve diagnostic algorithms, and advancing clinical trial methodology for targeted therapies.When I’m not busy number crunching, you can find me cooking something elaborate, hitting my favorite running trails, or hiking around New England with my Australian shepherd, Rory (run, eat, repeat!).At Harvard, I plan to continue studying interpretable machine learning while exploring new areas like clinical trials, causal inference, network science, and precision medicine. Through support from the HIV/AIDS training grant, I’m also super excited to learn more about applications in HIV and other infectious diseases.Outside of statistics, I love playing volleyball, kayaking on the Charles, trying out overly complicated board games, and listening to nonfiction and satirical podcasts (like 99% Invisible, Radiolab, and The Bugle), among other things. I’m also a lifelong Boston sports fan eagerly awaiting the inevitable duck boat parades over the next few years. I’m looking forward to meeting everyone!
