Hometown, Country:
Ellicott City, Maryland, USA
Academic History Prior to coming to MIT:
B.S., Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University
What brought you to MIT?
The possibility of conducting electrical engineering research with biomedical applications was what brought me to MIT. I was encouraged by the number of investigators within the EECS department who find direct applications of their research in medical practice.
What problem are you trying to solve with your current research and what are some possible applications?
My research deals with the rapid interpretation of respiratory signals and vital signs in acute care, diagnostic, and procedural sedation settings. At present, many of these signals are only qualitatively assessed. Through mechanistic and data-driven modeling, my work levies the richness of respiratory and pharmacological data to predict aspects of patient state. Possible applications include more rapid diagnosis and severity assessment of obstructive and restrictive respiratory diseases as well as continuous, quantitative assessment of sedation level during procedures taking place outside the operating room.
What interests you most about your research?
I find the development of the modeling and prediction methods in my research very intellectually rewarding. However, what interests me most are the potential applications of the research and the prospect that what I discover may improve patient care.
What are your future plans?
After graduation, I will be heading to Philips Healthcare. I will be working as an on-site Philips researcher at the University of Washington Medical Center and as an Affiliate Instructor at the University of Washington. The position allows me to be involved in both academic and industrial research. I am very excited about the opportunity to continue working with biomedical data and mentor student researchers in an academic hospital setting.