Fellowships for Technology-Based Healthcare support research relevant to the Mayo Clinic & Illinois Alliance's goal of advancing individualized medicine and create pathways for current Illinois graduate students to investigate post-graduation employment opportunities at the Mayo Clinic, as in the case of Illinois alumnus Dr. Arjun Athreya.
The Technology-Based Healthcare Fellowship program provides a unique opportunity for Illinois graduate students to work collaboratively with Mayo Clinic researchers and clinicians on a translational research project aimed at developing new technologies and clinical tools. To get the most from the experience, fellows are encouraged to spend one year at Illinois and one year at Mayo Clinic. In January, the Alliance will welcome its twelfth fellow to participate in this unique program.
Meet the current fellows and learn a bit more about the cutting-edge research they are conducting in collaboration with University of Illinois and Mayo Clinic researchers and clinicians.
Muhammad Fayyaz, Ph.D., is pursuing a doctorate in the Department of Bioengineering where his research focuses on obesity therapeutics in association with Type 2 diabetes. He is working with Illinois advisor Andrew Smith, Ph.D., and Mayo Clinic advisor Andres Acosta, M.D., Ph.D.
Chang Hu, a doctoral student in electrical and computer engineering, is working with Illinois advisor Ravishankar (Ravi) K. Iyer, Ph.D., and Mayo Clinic advisor Konstantinos N. Lazaridis, M.D., to develop new machine learning algorithms to predict outcomes of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), a rare liver disease.
Kowshika Sarker, a doctoral student in computer science, works with Illinois advisor Saurabh Sinha, Ph.D., and Mayo Clinic advisor Eric Klee, Ph.D., to develop new machine learning algorithms to identify genetic differences in individuals.
Neeraj Wagh, M.S., is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Bioengineering and our newest fellow. Starting in January, Neeraj will use machine learning methods to predict disease states and treatment response in epilepsy, stroke, and depression patients. He will work with Illinois advisor Yogatheesan Varatharajah, Ph.D., and Mayo Clinic advisor Gregory Worrell, M.D., Ph.D.
Chuanyi Zhang, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Computer Science, is working with Illinois advisor Mohammed El-Kebir, Ph.D., and Mayo Clinic advisor Nicholas Chia, Ph.D., on transformer-based language models for DNA sequences that take genetic mutations into account.
