#MentorMonday: Susan Wright and Roger Little

Susan Wright, Ph.D.
Program Director for Big Data and Computational Science
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) 

Roger Little, Ph.D.
Deputy Director of the Division of Basic Neuroscience and Behavioral Research
National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) 

Our intern, Nina Bernick, is working as a software engineer in the Division of Neuroscience and Behavior at NIDA with the overall goal of using AI algorithms to automate tasks for various NIDA staff to increase efficiency and productivity for grants management and administration. Another aspect of the project is data visualization for our scientific research portfolios and administrative needs. We hope to have the tools developed integrate with existing tools and further enhance our ability to support research that provides an understanding of the neurobiological and behavioral mechanisms of drugs of abuse and their consequences.     

Commitment to increasing the data science workforce.

NIDA is committed to increasing the data science workforce and providing training opportunities to develop and expand our data science efforts in addiction research, particularly among women and underrepresented minorities. We are excited to participate in the Civic Digital Fellowship program because although we are interested in increasing our data science training to all of the career support stages, we feel that it is extremely important to encourage data science as a career early on.  Mentorship is critical at this stage, as it expands career interests and help students achieve their goals, and although the program is entirely remote due to the pandemic, we are encouraging Nina to meet with various staff to learn about their unique career paths and build her professional network.

Offering a fresh perspective.
 
Our hope was to bring in someone with a fresh perspective who is also tech-savvy. Although the internship program is only 10 weeks long, we think it is possible for Nina to make a real contribution in an area that will increase our productivity. The project she’s working on also has potential to be adapted across NIH. We could tell during her interview that Nina was extremely bright and creative, and we think with her enthusiasm and strong work ethic, she will bring truly innovative solutions to her project. As we continue to work remotely, we also think her positive energy and sense of humor will be an asset to our team.