Heather Ward

M.Binf. ‘17

Before entering the MBinf program I completed a thesis-based MSc, during which time I encountered a considerable amount of rote data analysis. This analysis was traditionally done by lab members using Excel, and while the volume of data I was looking at did not make this prohibitive, with the limited programming experience I had at that time I understood that it could likely be sped up quite a bit, while also reducing the amount of human error involved.

The experiences in my MSc prompted me to consider further training in bioinformatics and programming generally, which led me to enter the MBinf program. The MBinf program brought me rapidly up to speed on many of the basics of bioinformatics, particularly in the use of UNIX and command-line tools that I now use on a daily basis in my job. The MBinf program provided the background and tools necessary to get started in bioinformatics, covering integral topics such as source control, programming concepts, biostatistics, UNIX, best-practices pipelines and tools, and how to explore the literature to find the tools necessary to interrogate a particular dataset or question. Since 'bioinformatics' covers a wide range of applications, data types, and analyses, it is difficult to choose which set of topics will be useful to all students, but the MBinf program does a good job at covering a foundational set of skills that will be widely applicable across disciplines and analyses. This culminates in a research project that can be taken either in an academic lab or in the industry, granting students the ability to apply their skills to a particular question in a deeper and more comprehensive analysis, getting feedback from experts in the field as well as gaining valuable work experience.

The skills I gained during the MBinf program gave me the foundation I needed to transition into working in industry, where I daily encounter new and diverse bioinformatics problems. Although the types of analyses I handle are often disparate and I have not necessarily previously encountered them either in the course of my job or during the MBinf program, I feel confident that I have the foundational knowledge and experience required to understand how to approach virtually any bioinformatics problem.

My BINF*6999 project was completed with DNAstack (Toronto, ON) and I was hired upon graduation. I currently work there as Bioinformatics Lead in the Data Science division.