Rebecca Boiarsky is currently working on earning her PhD from MIT in computer science and machine learning. She attended Stern College at Yeshiva University, studying physics and computer science, and received her Master’s from Columbia University in biomedical engineering.
I sat down with her in April 2021 and spoke with her about her work.
Tell me about your doctoral research.
My research is in a field called machine learning for healthcare and biology. In general, machine learning is the ability for computers to mine very large amounts of data to find patterns, and it's been applied to different kinds of problems. Some famous applications you might know are the Netflix recommendation algorithm and self-driving cars. People are now increasingly thinking about applying this methodology to healthcare. How can we use artificial intelligence to help make healthcare more effective, efficient, and cheaper?
What I am currently working on is using machine learning tools to mine genomic data in order to better understand cancer. Genomic data is data that would be found inside the nucleus of a cell relating to DNA or RNA. I am trying to find patterns in the genomic data of cancer patients to help us understand their disease or predict how they will respond to certain medications. For example, if we see that a protein is not functioning properly, we can target it with a specific drug. With personalized medicine, we try to identify groups of patients who all have a similar pattern to their genetics. If we see that patients in one group respond to a drug, but patients in another group do not, we can prescribe different medicines for the two different groups.
So, what do you do on a typical day when you're working on your research?
On a typical day I might be analyzing some interesting data set. Right now, for instance, I'm working on a type of cancer called multiple myeloma. I’m trying to understand who becomes sicker vs. who lives with the disease for a long time. The research begins with doctors taking biopsies and scientists running RNA sequencing on them. Then, that sequencing data is sent to me in the form of a giant table. My job is to analyze the data and think creatively about what kind of tools we can borrow from the machine learning world in order to find something clinically or biologically meaningful. A typical day for me is spent coding on my computer, meeting with other scientists working on similar problems, reading academic papers, and Googling things that I don't understand (such as figuring out why my code isn’t working, or learning about a specific gene that is being expressed in a group). I hope that I find a gene that not so much is known about, so that I can publish the next paper on it.
How did you decide to go into this field?
It wasn't a straight path. I always loved math and biology, so in high school, I knew I wanted to combine those two subjects, but I wasn’t sure how. Ultimately, I did my Master’s in biomedical engineering, and I got an internship at a biotech company, Regeneron. There, I was analyzing genomic data to better understand diseases. It was so exciting because I felt like it was almost like looking under a microscope, since I was seeing the actual genetic makeup of our bodies. It really spoke to me!
What made you decide to get a PhD?
That’s a very good question. It wasn’t something that I decided on until later in my career. As an undergraduate, I went to Stern, which doesn't have an engineering program. Then, while earning a Master’s in biomedical engineering at Columbia, I did research in a lab. The majority of people in the research lab were PhD students. They were the ones doing most of the work. I remember looking around and thinking I would never do a PhD, and that I would work after my Master’s. Once I was working, though, I saw how my boss who had a PhD was so much more knowledgeable than me, and I wanted to understand the field better and be able to ask more interesting questions. I wanted to start to think more about what I think is interesting and important. I felt like getting my PhD would give me the knowledge to do just that and open opportunities.
What about your field and work make you enjoy it so much?
I'm never bored, I always feel challenged by my work, it feels important, and it has an impact. I like being surrounded by really smart, like-minded people who also want to problem-solve and make an impact. Additionally, as I said before, it is just so cool to have the tools to uncover fundamental pieces of biology, even if I am working digitally.
Do you have any advice for young women who want to go into STEM?
Find a mentor–someone who is more experienced than you, who has perspective on the different paths that you could choose, and who can be helpful in getting you where you want to go. Also, have the confidence to ask people for advice, because they're often happy to help. It can be discouraging when, for example, you send someone an email and they don’t write back, but don’t be discouraged. I think there are more people who want to help than those who don’t, so reach out and make connections.
Some personal takeaways:
In March of 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, I went on a STEM-themed trip to Boston. A highlight of the trip was a tour of the Broad Institute, the first lab to successfully map the data of an entire human genome, and that tour made a tremendous impression on me. While I am not sure if Ms. Boiarsky’s data comes from the Broad Institute, it is likely, since the Institute is composed of MIT students and faculty. Regardless, it was interesting to learn how the data is being used.
I have always felt that whatever it is that I end up doing in life, I want to help people. Ms. Boiarsky’s interesting lab research can truly help others. She could discover a specific gene’s reaction to a particular medication, saving someone’s life.
I know that her advice about finding a mentor is good advice. Sometimes I feel intimidated to ask for help, while other times I like to figure things out for myself. Either way, I know that seeking out smart, qualified people and asking their advice is something I should do more often. Good advice can help me get to where I want to go much faster, and two minds solving a problem are better than one!
Ms. Boiarsky is an alumna of my high school and has achieved so much already. It was inspiring to see someone who was once in my exact position working on such impressive research.
Great interview!