Student Profiles

Benjamin Simon graduated with Distinction from Duke University in May 2023, earning a dual degree in Biomedical Engineering and Computer Science, and a minor in Global Health. His passion for health equity led him to pursue research under the mentorship of Dr. Nimmi Ramanujam at Duke’s Center for Global Women’s Health Technology. As an undergraduate researcher, he designed a machine learning and analysis pipeline to segment and analyze vascular features of mammary tissue in a mouse model. This project paved the way for his excitement for algorithmic design and the potential for such technologies based in machine learning to increase access, accuracy, and efficiency of certain medical decisions and analyses.

Benjamin has also worked on various other projects at Duke University for which his work has been recognized by multiple awards, including four consecutive Undergraduate Assistantship Grants awarded by Duke University, a Student Marshal title, and a Rhodes Scholarship Nomination. In addition he received the UCLA Research Excellence Award for his fellowship project on disease progression of complex mental health disorders using natural language processing of Electronic Health Record notes and latent dirichlet allocation under the guidance of Dr. Loes Olde Loohuis and Juan de la Hoz.
 

Outside of research, Benjamin is passionate about teaching and education. He taught multiple courses as a teaching assistant during his time at Duke in the Biology, Computer Science, and Global Health departments through which he came to love teaching and mentoring his students. Looking ahead, through the NIH OxCam program Benjamin will work with Dr. Ismail Baris Turkbey at the NCI and Dr. David Clifton at Oxford with a focus on building diagnostic machine learning algorithms for cancer risk prediction. He intends to develop tools and methodologies that address bias and inequity in algorithmic medical decisions. Additionally, he remains committed to furthering his training in education and teaching.

Benjamin is also an out-and-proud member of the LGBTQ+ community, passionate about being outspoken in the scientific community and uplifting LGBTQ+ and other marginalized voices.