I am currently a graduate student in the Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (AIM) Lab at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Supervised by Dr. Ali Bashashati, I research improving a deep learning model for ovarian cancer subtype diagnosis from histopathology images. My goal is to work on technically challenging projects that provide tangible benefits to society.

I initially chose to get my bachelor’s degree in Chemical and Biological Engineering at UBC because of my aptitude for problem-solving and the natural sciences. However, it was not until after working for a few years in various fields such as carbon capture and pharmaceutical production that I discovered what my true passion was - people. From there, I decided to devote my career to making meaningful impacts in society through the applications of technology, and thus started my master’s in Biomedical Engineering in September of 2019 to address problems in healthcare. In May of 2020, I was invited to join the AIM Lab to focus on developing machine learning and statistical algorithms that can be used for diagnosis and treatment selection in cancer.

I hope to continue working on developing new technologies for making the world a better place. Deep learning is especially appealing to me because it is a complex field with seemingly endless practical applications. I’m excited to see what problems I get to tackle in the next steps of my career!

Outside of work, I love to better myself and explore new places. I enjoy reading (currently: The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson), trying new recipes with my cast iron pan (dubbed Loonardo DiCastironio for various reasons; ask me about it!), learning Japanese (500+ day streak in Duolingo, studying for JLPT N4), and practicing calisthenics (recently been working on doing my first front lever). Some highlights of my life thus far involve completing my first marathon, being a volunteer farmer in various places in rural Japan for a few months, and spending a summer interning in Hong Kong.