Ai Ra shares their Northeastern experience in the Master of Science in Bioinformatics program, one of our professional master’s program offerings.
Q: Why did you decide to enroll at Northeastern University and pursue this degree?
As I was finishing my Master of Music degree and the COVID-19 pandemic began, I was looking for a way to further my education and career in STEM. I found the field of bioinformatics by chance, but it felt like something I’ve needed to do my entire life. I’ve always been curious about genetics, cancer, rare diseases, and gene-based therapies, so discovering this field was fascinating.
The program at Northeastern was among others I applied to, but the one I wanted to attend the most because of the co-op program. No other degree I saw had built-in career experience before graduating.
Q: What has been your experience in this program so far?
Shifting from music back to STEM has been an enormous challenge and was made even more challenging by the bulk of my degree being online. This semester has been primarily on-ground, and I am thankful for that.
Q: What has been your favorite part?
My favorite part has probably been working as a teaching assistant for the professional development for co-op class. Doing this has allowed me to further my professional skills while interacting with and helping my colleagues.
Q: Are there any particular faculty or resources that have helped you succeed in this program?
Stefan Kaluziak and Alex Susienka have been integral to my experience here at the College of Science.
Kaluziak has served as a tremendous mentor, providing advice on what skills I can cultivate to further my career, delivering job search guidance, and sharing general life advice for being a bioinformatician.
Susienka has made himself an unlimited resource of ways to practice and improve professionalism, providing support at every good and bad moment while I’ve been here, and allowing me to grow into a young professional.
Q: What do you believe to be the biggest strength of the Bioinformatics program?
The biggest strength of this program is the co-op opportunities. This kind of career experience leads to potential employment in ways other programs cannot compete.
Q: Tell us about your co-op experiences. How have these informed you on what you plan to do in the future?
I experienced co-op at a big pharma company called Abbvie. There were both ups and downs to this experience, the least enjoyable being that it was primarily remote due to the state of the pandemic at the time. Despite this, my co-op at Abbvie allowed me to work on programming with real-life experimental data, learn new skills, and interact with professionals with different levels of expertise from me.
In addition, this co-op revealed to me the things that I want from my future employment and things I would like to avoid. I also acquired a new mentor at Abbvie who became very invested in my career growth and integral to obtaining a full-time position before graduation.
Q: What skills from the Bioinformatics program have helped during co-op or will in your career?
Of course, the most valuable skills I have gained from the program have been my programming skills. Before enrollment, I had nearly no programming experience.
Q: What are your post-graduation plans?
I have been very fortunate to have secured a full-time position at NYU Langone Health, acting as the Bioinformatics Analyst for their Translational Immunology Center. I thank Northeastern for this opportunity, but especially my College of Science mentors Kaluziak, Susienka, and Jesus Paez-Cortez of Vertex Pharmaceuticals.
Q: What advice do you have for students in similar fields?
My advice is to practice, know your worth, and connect with everyone you meet as much as possible. When I say practice, I mean practice your coding skills. Almost everyone in this program is new to programming, and the only way to improve is to practice. Being down on yourself and writing yourself off as “not good at programming” will only harm you. Instead, focus on what you are good at and try to improve every time you put your hands on the keyboard.
Knowing your worth means understanding that – you are in high demand as a graduate of Northeastern’s Bioinformatics program. Do not settle for any job offer that is not exactly what you want. Finally, it would help if you connected with others. Since I connected with my teachers and mentors, I could secure a job before graduation and believe I deserve it!
Learn more about our graduate programs and student experiences here.
Barbara Pierre received her MEd in Higher Education and Student Affairs from Salem State University. She manages a large and diverse caseload on the Graduate Co-op team, supporting programs from Nanomedicine to Bioinformatics. Providing teaching and advising support with a focus on international students, her work emphasizes intentional, adaptable programming that fosters engagement and belonging through initiatives like Facetime with Faculty and Global Conversations—promoting community, professional growth, and public speaking skills across a diverse student population.
As the world scrambles to make sense of the new omicron variant of the coronavirus, Northeastern is ready to spot it if it enters our community.
Northeastern’s COVID-19 testing laboratory can already detect the omicron variant through existing protocols. And that could save the university community precious time in identifying and responding to any threat the variant might pose.
We take a more targeted approach, which gives us a head start,” says Jared Auclair, who runs Northeastern’s COVID-19 testing facility, the Life Sciences Testing Center in Burlington, Mass. “We have a test in line that really helps us identify these variants. We, as a university, did the right thing and continue to do the right thing to be able to track these things, so the population should feel confident that they are still safe
Read more on News@Northeastern.
Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University.
Maybe you have a headache, or a stuffy nose, or a sore throat, or a cough. You might feel fatigued, achy, or a bit feverish. After the last year and a half, you might immediately think that you have COVID-19.
But those symptoms also describe the flu.
Autumn marks the beginning of flu season. That’s why flu testing has been integrated into Northeastern’s symptomatic COVID-19 testing protocols.
People who are experiencing flu- and COVID-like symptoms get tested at the Huntington Testing Center, where their swabs are now tested for COVID-19, influenza A, and influenza B. They don’t need to get two separate tests for COVID-19 and the flu. People without symptoms who are on the Boston campus are tested at the Cabot Testing Center once a week; their swabs are not part of this program.
Read more on News@Northeastern.
Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University.
This third installment of the Fall 2021 pop-up seminar explores the development of resilient systems for a changing environment. Featured guest speakers are Steve Flynn, Director of Global Resilience Institute at Northeastern. Maria Cimilluca, Vice President of Facilities Management.
This open seminar is also available to enroll in as a pop-up, for-credit course (INPR 2183). For more details on the different options for course engagement please visit the course website. This class can be attended IN-PERSON in 305 Shillman Hall or VIRTUALLY via Zoom. Register here:
Weekly Topics:
9/14 – Sustainability, Resilience, and Climate Change
9/21 – Energy Efficiency and Energy Management
9/28 – Energy Resilience
10/5 – Climate Justice
10/12 – Sustainable Food Systems
10/19 – Recycling, Waste, and Materials Reduction
10/26 – Campus Ecology
For more details on each seminar, visit the course website
The second installment of this sustainability pop-up seminar focuses on reducing energy use and preparing our energy systems for decarbonization. This lecture features Michael Kane, Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Joe Lalley, Associate Vice President of Operations in Facilitates Management.
This open seminar is also available to enroll in as a pop-up, for-credit course (INPR 2183). For more details on the different options for course engagement please visit the course website. This class can be attended IN-PERSON in 305 Shillman Hall or VIRTUALLY via Zoom. Register here:
Weekly Topics:
9/14 – Sustainability, Resilience, and Climate Change
9/21 – Energy Efficiency and Energy Management
9/28 – Energy Resilience
10/5 – Climate Justice
10/12 – Sustainable Food Systems
10/19 – Recycling, Waste, and Materials Reduction
10/26 – Campus Ecology
For more details on each seminar, visit the course website
This first installment of this pop-up seminar is an ntroduction and overview of sustainability, resilience, and climate justice at Northeastern. This week's speakers include: Jennie Stephens, Professor, and Director of the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, and Kathy Spiegelman, Vice President of Campus Planning and Real Estate.
This open seminar is also available to enroll in as a pop-up, for-credit course (INPR 2183). For more details on the different options for course engagement please visit the course website. This class can be attended IN-PERSON in 305 Shillman Hall or VIRTUALLY via Zoom. Register here:
Weekly Topics:
9/14 – Sustainability, Resilience, and Climate Change
9/21 – Energy Efficiency and Energy Management
9/28 – Energy Resilience
10/5 – Climate Justice
10/12 – Sustainable Food Systems
10/19 – Recycling, Waste, and Materials Reduction
10/26 – Campus Ecology
For more details on each seminar, visit the course website
With clenched fists thrust into the air, beaming smiles, and high-fives, white-coated lab technicians at Northeastern on Tuesday celebrated a landmark achievement in the university’s efforts to promote safety during the pandemic—the processing of the one millionth coronavirus nasal swab test.
At Northeastern’s state-of-the-art Life Sciences Testing Center in Burlington, Massachusetts, staff shared in the thrill of the accomplishment with confetti poppers and a chocolate sheet cake that had “One Million Samples” written in icing. Numerical mylar balloons arranged in “1000000” hung from the ceiling.
“The testing center has been instrumental in keeping Northeastern open and safe,” said Jared Auclair, who oversees the testing facility. “Because of our stringent testing regime—every three days for students—we can catch those positive samples early.”
Read the full story at News@Northeastern.
The fight to end the pandemic has become a race against formidable opponents: variants.
Variants of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, are already proliferating around the world, complicating the fight to subdue the pandemic. In the U.S., a highly contagious variant of the coronavirus is now the dominant strain, and it’s helping drive a surge in cases of COVID-19 across the nation. Other, more transmissible variants are also spreading in the U.S., and public health experts have warned that more variants may still yet emerge.
Although the vaccines being administered offer hope, it’s not yet time to stop and celebrate, says Neil Maniar, associate chair of the Department of Health Sciences at Northeastern. “We’re not at the finish line yet.”
Read the full story at News@Northeastern
Northeastern’s Life Sciences Testing Center is now processing COVID-19 samples for K-12 schools across Massachusetts.
As the commonwealth strives to bring students of all ages back into the physical classroom safely this spring, Massachusetts has launched a coronavirus testing program in public K-12 and special education schools. It’s the first statewide program like this in the country, and Northeastern’s lab is becoming a vital part of that effort. The university has partnered with Ginkgo Bioworks, the Boston-based biotech company contracted by the state to provide testing services to approved schools.
“This is going to be an important strategy to keep the schools open and keep them safe,” says Jared Auclair, director of Northeastern’s testing lab. “It’s basically mimicking the higher education model at the primary schools.”
Read the full story at News@Northeastern
We hope you are doing well. We are writing to invite you to attend our first College of Science Bioinformatics Employer Information Session to discuss our Professional Master’s in Bioinformatics program on Monday, March 22 at 4:00PM EST over Zoom. This is an opportunity to hear from Bioinformatics alum, faculty, and co-op Employers about our program and how our co-op program can be a pipeline for talent as you build or grow your organizations and departments. Learn how we set our students up for success through co-op and beyond during this information session.
How To Sign Up: To attend, please click here