About Me
My name is Sarah. I'm a 22 year old incoming Stanford PhD student in the Biomedical Informatics program.
I'm originally from Switzerland, but moved to Los Angeles with my family in 1994. I attended UC San Diego where I obtained in B.S. in Biology with a specialization in Bioinformatics and a minor in French Literature.
As most undergraduates, I obtained a degree in a field different from the major I originally declared. I started off as a Biology major on a pre-med track. But UCSD opened the exciting specialization of Bioinformatics in my freshman year. I had gained my first exposure to Computer Science in high school, which sparked an interest in the field. This ultimately translated into a change in major and career path.
I worked at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, in the Geological Data Center for over a year. My biggest regret at this position is having missed the chance to go on a scientific cruise, although I'm nearly certain I would have experienced close to 30 days of motion sickness as a result.
I began participating in research in my field of Bioinformatics. My mentor was Ben Raphael, a postdoctoral fellow in Pavel Pevzner's lab. We worked on answering questions about cancer genome rearrangements using the data from the exciting CGH as well as investigations into Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. It was at this point that I decided a career in research would be much more suitable for me, and I decided to pursue a PhD rather than an MD. It was at this point I decided to broaden my experience and try a summer program.
I was accepted into the Southern California Bioinformatics Summer Institute, and participated in the development of motif finding software at the Wold lab at the California Institute of Technology. I had the chance to try work in a new area of Bioinformatics and put my education to work! I have tons more gory details on my homepage: http://www.computationalbio.com/about.php
At this point I'm really looking forward to trying new areas of research at Stanford but also getting involved in the community. I really enjoy tennis, and after a 5 year hiatus since my high school tennis team, I've been brushing up on my skills this summer in an attempt to join a team once I arrive. I'm also hoping to participate in Softball, and possibly regaining my old position at first base.
I also really enjoy water sports, but having been spoiled by San Diego's amazing climate, I may find it more difficult to spend time at the beach as I did in La Jolla. And as any good Swiss citizen, I'm also an avid skier. I hope to take full advantage of everything Tahoe has to offer, surf and turf!
I'll be making my transition to the bay with my wonderful boyfriend Ryan, a fellow UCSD graduate and graphic artist. We are living off campus (Stanford housing did not allow Mrs. Scoots and Senator Wuximus to live with us).
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