Meet CHIP alum, Halina Krzystek! Halina is a graduate of the Master's of Biomedical and Health Informatics, class of 2020. Inspired by her colleagues, she continues to push herself to expand her skills and knowledge in order to make a difference in the lives of patients and their health care. Read on to learn more about Halina.
What led you to pursue the MPS BMHI program with CHIP?
I originally learned about bioinformatics through my undergraduate honors thesis, which added a computational aspect to a developmental cell biology project. After graduating with a Bachelor’s of Science in biology from
Duke, I worked for a few years as a lab instructor in the Duke biology department, teaching evolutionary genetics. Both these experiences led me to want to pursue a master’s degree focusing on bioinformatics. I chose the MPS BMHI program because of their flexibility in classwork and the incredible support of the director and staff to forge my own path in the program. It proved to be the right decision as I was able to gain graduate experience in the field in a short amount of time, all while working a part-time research job on campus.
During my time at CHIP, I found an opportunity as a research analyst working for the High Throughput Sequencing facility (HTSF) at UNC, as well as the Bioinformatics and Analysts Research Collaborative (BARC) later on, where I worked on quality control and ad hoc analyses for the sequencing facility and other faculty on campus. Together with my coursework, my research experience at UNC was foundational to me finding employment after graduation.
What have you been up to since you graduated?
I was able to convert my student research analyst position to a full-time job as a bioinformatics analyst for BARC, working on projects from using machine learning methods to characterize the lung peptidome in cystic fibrosis models, to having a Nature article published on host-pathogen gene interaction and treatment in Covid-19. I used this experience to launch into an industry job working as a bioinformaticist at Q2 Solutions for the Data Services team. After three years I was promoted into a Team Lead role, which is my current position.
What do you like to do when you’re not at work?
My newest fascination is bird watching in my backyard. I find it so meditative and a great way to connect to nature and your environment. I also love crafting and playing tennis.
What do you find most rewarding about your work?
What motivates me every day is that our bioinformatics work supports our clients’ clinical research and trials to create better treatments for patients. As our company mission is that we treat every sample like a patient’s life depends on it. I am honored to have my daily work make a difference in patient care.
Who inspires you?
I am inspired every day by my colleagues, both those I had the pleasure of working with at UNC and those at Q2 Solutions. I work with extremely smart people who are dedicated to pushing the forefront of bioinformatics to improve healthcare. I learn so much from my colleagues and my knowledge and skillset grows the most by working with them.
What advice would you give current CHIP students?
My advice would be to take initiative and forge your own path. I think I was most successful with my time at CHIP because I knew what I wanted to get out of the program; I took the initiative to take additional classwork available to PhD students, and I made lots of valuable connections on campus by just applying, applying, and networking. I would also advise students to get practical experience outside of class and to work hard on technical skills. Building a portfolio, like a personal website and a Github, is a great way to showcase your skills and abilities to potential employers with concrete examples. I enjoy networking and connecting new professionals with opportunities, and I hope my experience and perspective can provide guidance for students on how to create their own path in the biomedical and health informatics fields.
