Chris Toh

Degrees

Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering, Expected 2021

M.S., Biomedical Engineering, 2019

B.S., Bioengineering, 2017

Research

I work on finding ways to use computers to understand large amounts of human genetic data in order to predict and understand some of the more difficult diseases like cancers and Alzheimer's Disease.

Biography

I grew up in the small town of San Luis Obispo, CA where the rural farms and classic beach vibes made for an interesting dichotomy of a childhood. I did my undergrad at UCLA in Bioengineering and really loved it. There I picked up a knack and interest in Computer Science but knew I wanted to help people in the healthcare field so I continued at UC Irvine in Biomedical Engineering working with Dr. James Brody in Big Data and Machine Learning applications for genetic information. I work part-time for Boeing - Digital Solutions & Analytics as well, primarily on quality assurance for the ICODES project contracted by the DoD. In my free time I'm an avid climber and gamer.

Why is science communication important to you personally?

I think people can benefit from understanding how things work and a lot of the times the way science is explained is inadequate or unnecessarily complicated. It's important to communicate science effectively because it allows us to have a better understanding of gratitude for the advances and achievements of modern technology. I hope that this will encourage others to be thankful for the little things that work and to be understanding when our technology fails us.

 

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