The Bridge Between Math and Health Care
Real-World Experience
A biostatistics research opportunity in summer 2024 exposed Virginia Reider to a new application for her math skills—and built the confidence that she needs to pursue a new career path.
Virginia Reider (STAT 4th Year)Virginia Reider (STAT 4th Year) knew that earning a degree in statistics would open up career avenues in a variety of fields. But choosing which avenue to follow was proving difficult, until she completed a biostatistics research project in summer 2024.
“I always loved statistics and math,” she says. “This summer I was able to apply those skills and see a direct impact. I saw tangible evidence that what I was doing was going to make a difference.”
Virginia spent six weeks at the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus examining 10 to 20 years of data collected by the University of Colorado Hospital system on patients being treated for retinopathy of prematurity, an eye disease in premature babies. Doctors were looking at other health factors to see if there are any correlations.
“There’s more to math than writing equations on a whiteboard,” Virginia says. “It was aspirational to work in a research hospital. I was able to take my skill set to do, truly, the most good.”
Virginia worked with 23 other student researchers. Most were undergraduates, like herself, and a few were working to earn their master’s degrees. She says that compared to her researching peers, she was better prepared to conduct the work because of the coursework at Illinois Tech. Although she wasn’t very knowledgeable about the biostatisticss field, she was very familiar with the statistical methods used in the research.
“I was well prepared to tackle the questions that they were asking,” Virginia says. “It is nice to know that I have the statistical background to do research, and that I want to further. It was a good confirmation.”
She also says that she has a great support system with her professors, who were helpful in identifying and applying to summer research opportunities that would be a benefit for her. Virginia says she knows that she can walk into a professor’s office during scheduled hours and walk out with a wealth of new knowledge.
“I might stop by with one question and then wind up having a 30-minute conversation,” Virginia says. “I know that I can walk into one of their offices and ask about grad school and learn more about the next steps I have to take to get there.”