Greyson Twist
Hometown: Anthony, KansasUndergraduate Major: Clinical Laboratory Science, University of Kansas School of Allied Health (KU Med)
Post-baccalaureate work experience:
Bioinformatics Software Engineer at the Children’s Mercy Center of Pediatric Genomic Medicine
Program in or completed at UMKC:
Master of Science Bioinformatics, Computational Emphasis UMKC (graduated December 2014), current student in the Bioinformatics IPhD Program
Why did you choose UMKC?
I chose UMKC for the flexibility to move at my own pace, small in person classes, ability to work on projects I was interested in, and knowledge able faculty that were willing to help me solve problems.
What excites you about bioinformatics?
A lot of the fun of science is building new things, showing it to people and having them say “WOW that is really cool,” then listening to them grumble about why they didn’t think of that first. With the increasing cost of lab reagents and experiments focusing on bulk generation of data, most of the creative science work now involves data analysis and manipulation. Using computers and a thorough understanding of biology (bioinformatics), data is already generated (free) and compute power doubles every 2 years (approaching free). The only limit on creating new things are good ideas and a strong skill set.
What are your research interests?
Building tools to enable pharmacogenomic research and clinical implementation, as well as whole genome and whole exome sequencing, variant impact prediction, and haplotype set annotation.
How do you plan to use your degree in your career?
I use it every day building software, designing user interfaces, and working to enable a genomic medical system.
What advice would you give to prospective students?
Find a problem that you want to try and solve – big or small it doesn’t matter. Have an idea coming into the program; it will help keep you focused, and you will be surprised how taking classes will spark new insights and ideas.
Carrie Kriz
Hometown: Independence, MissouriClass of 2018
Undergraduate Major: Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Minor Biology from University of Missouri - Columbia
Post-baccalaureate work experience:
My first post-baccalaureate position was with a community mental health center working in the intake department. Currently, I’m employed as a clinical research coordinator with the UMKC School of Pharmacy with the Psychopharmacy Research and Education Program.
Program in or completed at UMKC:
Master of Science in Bioinformatics, clinical research emphasis area.
Graduation date:
May 2018
Why did you choose UMKC?
I chose UMKC largely due to my position with the School of Pharmacy. However, I had considered multiple graduate programs before accepting my current position, and I can honestly say I would have ended up in the MSB program even without being employed by the university. I love Kansas City even more since moving back from Columbia, and UMKC is the only research institution in the city, so being in KC, at a large research university, and in a research focused program is the best fit for me.
What excites you about bioinformatics?
I love how new the field is and how much there is yet to be explored within bioinformatics. It feels like there are an infinite number of things to explore with all of the data out there and more being created every day.
What are your research interests?
Primarily, I have worked in mental health and psychological research for the last 5 years; however, I’m generally excited by all types of research. My current position has exposed me to a lot of clinical, industry, and pharmacy research which has been a really great and broad experience. Next on my list is to learn how to work with big data and existing data sets. After working in clinical/human subjects research, big data seems like less hassle but we’ll see!
How do you plan to use your degree in your career?
I love research, and I think I’ll always work in research. The appeal of the clinical track of the bioinformatics program for me was the well- rounded research coursework (stats, epi, informatics). This coursework has prepared me to work in a higher capacity with research than I do now and do more analysis and study development.
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For additional information about this department and/or its programs, please reach us by email at informatics@umkc.edu or call us at (816) 235-1828.