Not so elementary
DURHAM, N.C. – None of us are getting any younger, but Duke University statistician Rachel Holmes ’17 is helping renowned researchers combat some of the diseases that can come with age.
The Minot native graduated from Minot State with a Bachelor of Arts in math and a minor in applied statistics. While she attended, one professor made an especially impactful connection with her.
“I grew up in Minot. I lived there my whole life. It's a very affordable college, and my whole goal was to get out of school debt free, so I worked my way through and paid all my tuition out of pocket,” she said. “I was really good at math in high school, so I took a statistics course with Dr. Geller (Laurie Geller, vice president for academic affairs), and I just kind of fell in love with it.”
As the end of her undergraduate career approached, Geller continued to support her academics, this time pointing towards graduate school.
“She sees the beauty of mathematics, as well as its utility, and statistics is a field that allows her to use and honor both,” Geller said. “In mathematics and statistics — really, in any field — persistence and curiosity are extremely important. You have to be willing to engage with difficult problems, try different approaches, take risks, stay curious, make mistakes and learn from them, and not lose confidence in your ability. You really have to love learning, and Rachel does.”
Holmes took Geller’s advice and went on to earn her Master of Science in mathematics and statistics from Minnesota State University, Mankato in 2020. Teaching algebra and writing an alternative plan paper about algorithms in abstract algebra and computational algebraic geometry helped her land the position at Duke.
Today, Holmes continues to persist and stay curious about her work, sleuthing with well-known biologist Svetlana Ukraintseva to help find answers about aging and disease.
“She's got a lot of different grants right now from the National Institute of Health, and she's full of ideas," Holmes said. “I'm responsible for taking those ideas and researching any new method she wants us to investigate, trying to find those genetic risk factors in what we’re studying, which is aging, resilience, and some diseases, mostly Alzheimer’s disease and cancer. Say she thinks some sort of genetic variant is linked to some sort of disease; it's my job and my team members’ job to prove that using statistical methods.
“Our end goal is to use risk factors and some genetic targets to aid in anti-aging and disease prevention and resilience. We help look for them so that others can figure out how to use them.”
Since moving to North Carolina last April, Holmes’ curiosity has only grown working alongside the other members of Duke’s Social Science Research Institute.
“It’s a very collaborative environment,” she said. “Our team is full of not just statisticians—we have biologists, physicists, mathematicians, computer scientists—so it's a very diverse group, and I think that really helps us think outside the box.”
About Minot State University
Minot State University is a public university dedicated to excellence in education, scholarship, and community engagement achieved through
rigorous academic experiences, active learning environments, commitment to public service, and a vibrant campus life.
| Published: 03/15/22 |
