Testimonials
Deeksha Pai, University of Michigan
BDSI 2017
"So, we had some struggles 
from the start
Downloading jupyter notebook is not for the faint of heart
I'm just kidding, most of us used Rstudio anyway
There was the occasional python user but anything else was so yesterday
Understanding spatial bias was not an easy task,
We would ask, every day, wait, what's a microarray and what's a plate?
And to be honest, we still never really got that part straight.
8x8 spots are on one well plus 95 more,
16 special wells, control spots, what else could you ask for?
All the heat maps we made.. man, you would think we were on fire!
And we were, so hopefully none of you want to retire.
We learned so much about R and machine learning, thanks to our mentors
Professor Gagnon-Bartsch, all these brilliant designs were yours.
Hopefully we've done your project justice, and all went well.
Professor Tewari, thanks for the great talks, they were swell.
And let's not forget Young and Greg, the best GSIs with the best R code.
We thank you guys for the complicated functions that you graciously bestowed.
Our little machine learning group of 12, man we've come a long way.
Though I'm not sure any of us ever want to look at another bioassay...
While everyone else stayed in SPH, to cc little we all walked,
Sitting in that hot little classroom, but hey, we really rocked!
We've got the best models in the bus-in-ess
Cross validating so hard, we don't even KNOW what over fitting is.
So many decision trees, forget Nichols, call us machine learning Arboretum.
Heres where I say something statistical so I can end with- degrees of freedom...
Obviously I'm running out of rhymes,
So I'm going to end this fast,
Data Mining and Machine Learning and BDSI were a blast!! "
Miriam Goldman, Arizona State University
BDSI 2017
"I really enjoyed 
all the social events and the opportunity to meet so many nice, different, people
who were interested in biostats."
Ben Sadis, University of Michigan
BDSI 2017
"I really would 
like to thank everyone who put effort into making this program happen…" "It was really
neat to have the opportunity to interact with and learn from so many professors and
researchers who are leaders in their fields."
Marissa Ashner, Illinois Institute of Technology
BDSI 2017
"I learned more 
about biostatistics and big data than I ever imagined learning in six weeks, and I
think all of the knowledge I gained here will be useful for continuing my education."
Tahmeed Tureen, University of Michigan
BDSI 2017
"My experience with BDSI was phenomenal. I met incredible
faculty members and researchers from several disciplines such as statistics, biostatistics,
and computer science. Some of these people are really famous. There was a point during
my time with BDSI where I was explaining what 'Survival Analysis' was to the guy that
is known as the 'Guru of Survival Analysis'... Me, an undergrad was explaining the
rudimentary aspects of a statistical method to the guy that is world famous for that
method... Just talking with and being around these people really cemented what I want
to pursue later in my life. If I could one day become a part of something as amazing
as the University of Michigan School of Public Health and have my work impact people's
lives in a positive way, I'd consider all these hours I put into school worth it."
Danielle Demateis, The College of New Jersey
BDSI 2017
"I really appreciated 
and felt Bhramar's dedication toward the program. Her journey lecture and outreach
has inspired me to follow her path of being a female leader in biostatistics."
Gabriel Goulart, Cornell University
BDSI 2016
"The Institute introduced 
me to a lot of different concepts regarding to Big Data and Biostatistics. The multi-disciplinary
of the Institute is the major strength of it. Also, the opportunity to work with different
people from different fields was unique."
Chinwendu Nwokeabia, Notre Dame of Maryland
BDSI 2016
"The journey lectures are amazing, and very helpful in
providing a snapshot of potential careers after graduate school. The sense of camaraderie
as the weeks passed was great and that was mostly due to seeing each other outside
of the classroom. Many of the lectures, particularly the professional development
and programming ones were very helpful; I do not have much experience with programming,
so I am grateful for the chance to have a little practice in it."
Pooja Iyer, University of North Carolina
BDSI 2015
"I learned so much — not only about public health 
— but about my potential future and gained experiences that I would not have received
anywhere else."
Rima Das, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
BDSI 2015
"My favorite part 
was seeing how big data is applicable in so many fields."
Kristine Lan, University of Michigan
BDSI 2015
"When I saw 
this program, I thought, 'I HAVE to attend this!'."
Michael Thompson, University of Massachusetts
BDSI 2015
"As an undergraduate, you're
trying to figure out where to go and how to get there. One of my favorite parts of
the program were the journey lectures where you get to see how faculty started out
and how they got to where they are today."
Tianna Burke, Howard University
BDSI 2015
"I learned a lot about 
different subjects and I started learning about coding online after the institute."
Eli Ben-Michael, Columbia University
BDSI 2015
"Working with students 
and professors from many backgrounds was very valuable to me. The institute exposed
me to many ideas from many fields that I may not have seen otherwise."