Presenting my poster at the research symposium

Author: Emilee Walden | Major: Mathematics and Biology | Semester: Spring 2025

I am double majoring in applied mathematics and biology in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences with minors in computer science and data analytics. My mentor is Dr. Jiahui Chen in the Department of Mathematical Sciences. My research project began in the fall of 2023, and this spring of 2025 is now my final semester. Following graduation, I will be attending Yale University to pursue a PhD in computational biology and biomedical informatics.

My research is on tracking the evolutionary trajectory of the influenza virus through mathematics and AI. More specifically, I employed dimensionality reduction methods combined with k-means clustering to influenza virus nucleotide sequences. I then transformed most recent sequences onto the embedding from earlier sequences to determine if these methods can isolate emerging clusters. These new clusters can then be evaluated for unique mutational patterns. This computational process can help determine more rapid and effective vaccine antigens to combat upcoming influenza strains than existing experimental sampling.

Prior to starting my thesis, I had some previous experience working in Dr. Hestekin’s lab to determine math models and simulations for dialysis systems. In the summer of 2023, I participated in a REU at Boston University where I used bioinformatics to find expression patterns from alternative promoters in human data. These experiences encouraged me to find a thesis project combining how math can interact with human biology. This led me to begin talking to Dr. Chen in the Department of Mathematical Sciences for my honors thesis. His previous work involved patterns in COVID-19, and he proposed a thesis that could explore the flu using computational techniques.

This project has been exciting, but it also came with lots of ups and downs. Understanding the background and getting the data to look correct took nearly 6 months. Once I had produced some meaningful graphs, I then continued to refine my code for accuracy and make everything readable while visually appealing. I worked through summers and had some meetings over breaks to keep making progress over the two years I devoted to this project. My last semester focused primarily on understanding and developing a neural network that can predict future flu virus mutations and improve upon the clustering techniques I had presented previously.

While research has been challenging, I believe that following through with an undergraduate honors thesis has been incredibly rewarding. I have found a passion for both research and computational biology that I plan to pursue for my career. I also have had the opportunity to present my work on my thesis in the 2024 Arkansas IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (AR INBRE) Conference, the 4th Annual Barry Goldwater Symposium, and the University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Symposium in both 2024 and 2025. I recently published my work in a journal as well.

This upcoming fall, I plan to start a PhD at Yale University in computational biology and biomedical informatics. While I will rotate through labs to find my advisor, I hope to continue my work in computational immunology with a heavier focus on human immune response to pathogens. I plan to become a research professor and mentor students through the beginning of their research careers as well.