Learner Profile
David Hall
HMX Course
David Hall has an extensive background in statistics, and has chosen to apply his knowledge as a biostatistician to make an impact in the field of pediatric oncology. He took the HMX Genetics course to better understand the science behind the oncology research he works on, with the goal of eventually pursuing a PhD in statistical genetics.
Why did you want to learn genetics?
I’m a biostatistician, I work in children’s cancer research, and I want to go into statistical genetics. Although my statistics background is pretty comprehensive, my biology background isn’t. So I was looking for something that would teach me about genetics. [The course] was great, it was exactly what I was looking for.
What was your science background before taking the course?
I haven’t taken an actual biology course since sophomore year of high school. I do a little bit of learning through osmosis in my job, because we do analysis on genetic data, so I learn kind of as I go. But this has helped push me forward greatly – this was awesome.
What did you like most about learning with HMX?
I liked the videos and I liked the way that we were tested, that helped quite a bit. I felt like it was the perfect level for me, because it was pretty in-depth for a beginning course, but it was still a beginning course so I wasn’t confused the whole time…It was the perfect amount, because anything more would’ve been a real issue, and anything less I wouldn’t have felt like I really covered the subject.
Have you found ways to apply the material in your work?
I applied it almost immediately…I did a genetic analysis project recently where it was two different alleles that they were monitoring, but they also grouped them into haplotypes because they’re really close to each other on the same chromosome, and I was the only statistician who immediately knew what that meant.
Anything else you’d like to share?
I’ve been singing the praises of HMX to all my coworkers. It’s been great.
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