09/28/23
I have partnered with Latitude Food Allergy Clinic to analyze existing patient data to find potential predictors of positive oral food challenges (OFC) results by looking for correlations between patient data and past positive OFC results. I have been working alongside Kimberly Hobson to find possible medical advisors inside of Latitude to aid in my project design and which patient data would be most effective to analyze. This marks a very exciting time for me as my project is being finalized, and I'm excited to continue to push forward and make an impact on the way clinicians view and conduct OFCs.
12/12/23
I now have access to the Latitude food challenge data spreadsheet, and have been using that to analyze the correlation between different data and food challenge outcomes. Currently, IgE levels and skin test results appear to be the most effective for answering my essential question, however, recent discussions with my mentor Tina have led me to shift toward also taking into account if patients have eczema. This skews results like IgE levels and skin tests, and therefore needs to be a central consideration in my analysis. With the added information from Epic, I will be able to include eczema data as a part of this, and I am beginning to make graphs to represent my findings. Nothing conclusive yet, but hopefully soon!
1/11/2024
I now have access to the Epic patient data (Epic is a tool used by Epic to organize and collect data), and I am integrating this into my food challenge data spreadsheet to compare both eczema and skin test wheal results with other data points on the spreadsheet. So far I have created a graph of asthma vs. skin test wheal test for both failed and passed OFCs. Unfortunately, there appeared to not be enough data to yield a statistically significant result, however, visually, the graph looked consistent with the current knowledge in the field: that asthma increases the allergic response of patients and can skew skin test results. I will continue to analyze the new eczema data in the next month.
5/30/2024
Alas, my MARC journey has finally come to an end. After a thrilling, emotional, and beautiful culminating presentation at the MARC colloquium, it feels surreal that the last two years spent devotedly working on a single topic, one near and dear to me, is now over. I do plan to continue polishing my final manuscript, and sending both it and my presentation to researchers and doctors in the field to see how my research can be used beyond my time at MA. I'm immensely proud of everything I accomplished during the past two years, and equally as proud of everything I didn't. What I mean by that is, this project—ultimately—looking nothing like what I envisioned it to be as a nervous little aspiring-researcher back in Sophomore year. I ran into countless email dead-ends, a lack of internship opportunities or professionals who wanted to mentor me, and even the simple road block of being a teen in a field where our work is underappreciated. And yet, I was able to create and develop a project that achieved all of the goals I had for myself as a MARC student: To make a tangible impact in the field of food allergies, to learn the skills needed to pursue and evaluate research, and to create connections with the people I was so fortunate to have been helped by over 10 years ago in the Stanford clinical trials. However big or small, I really did something. I made my dent. And I'm proud.