Master’s Graduate Combines Love for Data With Research

By LaTina Emerson

ATLANTA — Kotryna Diktonaite (M.I.S. ’23) wanted to pursue a career that focused on both research and data, so she completed an online certification in data analysis in addition to her regular coursework.

Diktonaite’s initiative paid off. Through her knowledge of data analysis and the cardiovascular research experience she gained in the Biomedical Science and Enterprise master’s program, she secured a data science fellowship at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program.

This fellowship and her academic training helped her to stand out as a job applicant, and she has been offered a job as a research technologist at the Georgia Institute of Technology. In the future, she may pursue an MBA to become a manager in the data science field.

From March to July, she analyzed cardiovascular disease mortality statistics using R and SAS software at CDC. R is a programming language for statistical computing and graphics that statisticians and data miners use for data analysis. SAS, which stands for Statistical Analysis System, is used for data management and advanced predictive analytics. She worked part time during the semester and full time during the summer.

Among her duties, she downloaded cardiovascular disease mortality statistics from a database used by CDC and imported it into R software to create manuscript tables. The tables help visualize trends happening throughout the year by summarizing different health statistics based on ethnicity, age and states where cardiovascular disease might be prevailing.

“Cardiovascular disease is really important because there’s a high risk of mortality in the United States,” Diktonaite explained.

Diktonaite also created an automated process for the database from which CDC obtains its data, essentially simplifying the process. Previously, the process took about two hours, but she streamlined it to take only 20 minutes, she said.

The fellowship aligned with her career goals, and it was a learning opportunity because the CDC was seeking candidates to train. She learned that while data is important, the analysis of data is critical.

“It’s important to figure out what these numbers mean, what the statistics mean relative to other data and what they mean to public health,” Diktonaite said.

Diktonaite was prepared for this opportunity because of the free Data Jam course offered by Research Data Services at the Georgia State University Library last spring. In addition to her regular coursework, she made time to learn as much as possible. She wanted to get into the data field and saw that many employers were requesting R and SAS experience.

“I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity and get the most out of it so I can be competitive in the job market,” Diktonaite said.

As a master’s student, she also gained lab experience working with Dr. Hongyu Qiu and co-authored a paper on a particular protein and how it affects cardiovascular disease. The paper was published in the journal Biomolecules.

Born in Lithuania and raised in Suwanee, Ga., Diktonaite moved to the United States when she was 4 years old. She’s the first in her family to earn a master’s degree and the first to pursue a career in science, research or medicine.

“I chose Georgia State University because of this program,” Diktonaite said.

She liked the interdisciplinary curriculum of the Biomedical Science and Enterprise master’s program, which combined studies in science, business and law. After being awarded a graduate research assistantship that would help her to avoid student debt, she knew she wanted to enroll.

She has discovered areas of science she didn’t realize existed, and speakers from a wide range of industries have exposed her to potential career paths. She has also learned the importance of networking, understanding which jobs are in demand, what recruiters are looking for and using LinkedIn as a tool to connect with people at companies where she’d like to work. She chose the program’s professional track because she wanted to gain industry experience.

“I learned that you can go into any industry as long as you tailor your experience,” she said.

Through her capstone course, Diktonaite received training on clinical trials and intellectual property, how to create and sell a product, and how to think like an entrepreneur. Her capstone project idea was to create a blood-pressure therapeutic for cardiovascular disease patients that could regulate the protein discussed in her research paper.

Diktonaite is also a student leader and serves as vice president of the Translational Biomedical Sciences Student Association, an organization that provides social events and information about jobs and internships for master’s and Ph.D. students in the Institute for Biomedical Sciences. She founded the association with three other students.

She is grateful for the program’s professors and mentors, who want students to get the most out of their academic experience. Her research mentor was committed to helping her publish a research paper.

“The professors in the program seek out the best for their students,” Diktonaite said.