图片标题: Thanks to his undergraduate research, 他找到了一种方法，将他对计算机科学和医疗保健的热情在他未来的职业生涯中结合起来. After He earns his degree in software engineering, 布鲁戈尔德希望去医学院，同时继续他在生物信息学方面的研究. (摄影:Jesse Yang)
进入大学, Nichol他 knew he wanted to study either 计算机科学 or pre-med, 两个截然不同的学术领域，他认为只会导致两种截然不同的职业.
Since the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire has strong programs in both areas, He decided he’d take a few classes in each discipline and then decide which path to follow.
“I was really interested in 计算机科学 and I knew I didn’t want to give that up,他说, noting that while his longtime goal is to be a physician, the logic of 计算机科学, 这句话真的很合我意. 所以，我决定主修软件工程，辅修专业预科健康科学. That way I could experiment with them both and decide which one I absolutely want to do.”
今年夏天——多亏了他在多个研究项目上的工作——他意识到他不必在他的两个爱好之间做出选择，因为计算机科学和医疗保健以他从未想象过的方式交叉在一起.
总而言之, 这是一次非常有影响力的经历，对我毕业后想做什么产生了很大的影响,他在谈到自己的研究时说. “上大学, 我的愿望是上医学院成为一名医生，或者毕业后成为一名计算机科学家. I thought I would have to give one of them up. I never thought my interests in 计算机科学 and the medical field would ever intersect.
“现在, 因为我的研究, 我发现了生物信息学, which really is a combination of my two passions. 我非常喜欢软件工程/计算机科学与生物学/医学领域的交叉.”
So, his future plans now include going to medical school and specializing in radiology, 在研究生学习期间和/或成为医生后继续他的生物信息学研究.
Embracing undergraduate research
今年夏天, He worked alongside two 教师 research mentors, one in biology and one in 计算机科学.
他和Dr. 布拉德利卡特, an assistant professor of biology, to study the effects of chemicals on the development of zebra fish. 他还与博士合作. 拉胡尔戈麦斯, assistant professor of 计算机科学, on research involving deep learning and bioinformatics.
“Both research projects are very different; they are almost complete opposites,何说, 麦地那人, 明尼苏达州. “一个是真正观察鱼类的行为，并与动物一起工作，另一个是与数据和程序一起工作. They were completely different, but together they really gave me an enriching experience.”
Through his research with Gomes, 他开始理解计算机科学和自然科学之间的强大交集.
Working with researchers at North Dakota State University, He and Gomes explored methylation markers, 哪些与基因表达相关的特定值可能是胰腺癌的预测因子.
“So, 我在这个项目中所做的深度学习就是观察所有这些数据，并预测一个人是否可能患有胰腺肿瘤，或者他们是否健康,他说.
Gomes和He还与梅奥诊所健康系统合作一个项目，利用CT扫描和数据帮助预测正在接受化疗的胰腺癌患者的预后.
“这个夏天的研究对我来说是一次独特的经历，因为我是在一个真实的工作环境中工作的,他说. “And it showed me that I really want to explore deep learning in bioinformatics more.
“I went into this research without knowing anything about deep learning or bioinformatics. But I’ve found this passion for it and that is really, really cool.”
盈禾体育生物信息学
Bioinformatics is the science of storing, 提取, 组织, 分析, interpreting and using biological information. It incorporates data and analytical approaches from the biological sciences, 计算机科学, data science and mathematics.
生物信息学领域的发展源于组织和分析越来越多的生物数据的需要——包括对卫生保健进展至关重要的数据——正在生成. Bioinformatics analyses are increasingly necessary to address many biological questions.
“The need for bioinformatics is now greater than ever,戈梅斯说. “随着现代技术使我们能够收集越来越多的临床和生物学数据, 我们需要的专家不仅能够处理数据以获取信息，而且能够以最优化的方式这样做，以实现更快和更准确的反应.”
一个新的生物信息学专业——一个利用大学生物学专业知识的跨学科项目, 计算机科学和数学系-将于2022年秋季开始在奥克莱尔大学开放. It will be the only bioinformatics program of its kind in the UW System.
特殊学生
Gomes describes He as an outstanding student and researcher, 谁在没有深度学习或生物信息学背景的情况下对他们的研究做出了有价值的贡献.
在开发深度学习模型以及如何克服这些挑战时，尼科尔非常清楚这些挑战,戈梅斯说. “During the pancreatic cancer research project with Mayo Clinic, 他引入并实现了一个基于补丁的深度学习模型，将CT扫描划分为3D补丁, 使模型训练在Blugold高性能计算中心的GPU节点上更加可行.
“考虑到尼科尔只是一名本科生，而且之前没有任何深度学习的经验，他能够吸收信息，并参与讨论，修改或改进拟议的工作流，这简直令人震惊.”
卡尔加德学者
他来到盈禾体育，主要是因为他知道作为一名蓝金学生，他会找到许多实习和研究机会.
Among the opportunities he values most is being a Karlgaard Fellow, 一个奖学金项目, 除此之外, 支持正在学习计算机科学或软件工程的本科生研究人员.
卡尔加德学院的学者与计算机科学教师合作进行研究，并在UW-Eau克莱尔校区外出版学术出版物和/或正式演讲.
“I was fortunate enough to be chosen for this scholarship, and it’s been a big motivator for me to explore different areas of 计算机科学,他说. “知道有人在经济上支持我，这让我有动力更努力地工作, but it also makes me even more thankful for the opportunities.”
大卫和玛丽莲·卡尔加德 met while both were students at UW-Eau克莱尔. David Karlgaard graduated in 1967 with degrees in math and physics. He was co-founder, CEO and president of PEC Solutions Inc., an internet technology-consulting firm, which was acquired by Nortel Networks in 2005. 玛丽莲·卡尔加德(Marilyn Karlgaard)从1965年到1968年就读于UW-Eau克莱尔大学，是一名退休的人力资源经理.
The Karlgaards have made substantial donations to the UW-Eau克莱尔 Foundation, gifts that support multiple scholarships and various other university 倡议.
他说，奖学金项目与本科生研究的联系尤其有意义，因为计算机科学专业的学生来到这个项目时，往往对自己想要用自己的学位做什么有固定的想法. 研究可以帮助他们发现他们可能没有考虑过或不知道的职业道路.
“It’s a very wide field and a very fun field, so students need to look around and find the niches that fit them,他说 of 计算机科学 and software engineering. “It was being a Karlgaard Scholar that got me into this bioinformatics research. Without that, I wouldn’t even know what I want to do in the future.”
