We talk to Aneesa Valentine, MS, about everything from bioinformatics to data science and AI. After leaving her PhD program, she embarked on a journey in data science. We explore her experience outside of academia and into the world of data science and AI. About Aneesa Aneesa is a Data Scientist and Researcher at heart. She earnestly began Biosciences Research during undergrad, where she participated in several Research Honors programs (MARC, C-STEP etc.). Throughout her undergraduate tenure, in addition to conducting research at her alma mater Brooklyn College, she interned at several R1 institutions allowing her to contribute to research projects spanning Biophysics, Microbiology & and Genetics. Post undergrad, she completed a Post Baccalaureate Research Program (PREP) at Tufts University, pushing the boundaries of Infectious Diseases research using humanoid models of gastrointestinal fungal infection. On par with her academic career pursuits, she began her PhD in Bioinformatics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine where she became enamored with Computational methods, specifically supporting Genomics Research. Though the data she generated contributed to a research publication during her brief graduate tenure, her love for algorithms prematurely drew her to an industry career in Data Science & AI. She effectively “mastered out” of her program, and more recently became a Data Scientist in the commercial Data Science space. Since then, she has developed real-world Machine Machine Learning & Analytics expertise by leading and contributing to projects impacting millions of individuals. Aneesa’s domain expertise in Biology and Bioinformatics has challenged her to exploit her rigorous quantitative training and intellectual curiosity to generate impact beyond the academy. Aneesa's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aneesav/ ------ The CompBio Cafe Podcast is brewing up fresh perspectives in the CompBio world. Hosts Jenea Adams and Melyssa Minto, PhD are two trained computational biologists who serve the Black Women in Computational Biology Network (BWCB). Learn more about us at blackwomencompbio.org Subscribe to CompBio Cafe wherever you get your podcasts, and leave us a review once you've listened to a few episodes!