STEMbach project

The STEMbach program in Galicia is an excellence initiative designed to spark students’ interest in scientific and technological research. As part of the program, students develop a research project under the co-supervision of a university faculty member.

During the 2023/24 academic year, I had the opportunity to co-supervise a team of four amazing students conducting a Mendelian randomization study on the relationship between periodontitis and diabetes. We provided them with training sessions on the topic, guided them through their research process, and offered continuous support. Their work culminated in a final research essay and a public defense presented to both specialized and general audiences.

I was also invited to deliver seminars at another high school, introducing students to the intersection of statistics and genomics research. One of my talks, titled The Jessica Jones of DNA: How statistics help uncover the mysteries of complex phenotypes (I later realized Enola Holmes might have been a more up-to-date reference, but the moment had passed!), explored GWAS, polygenic risk scores, and their role in personalized medicine. In a second seminar, I conducted a hands-on workshop on basic statistical analyses in R.

This experience was very rewarding for me, since it was my first contact with scientific communication outside research and academia. I loved being able to share my knowledge with young students and play a part in encouraging their interest in STEM.