Let us introduce Mher Kurghinyan, one of ABI’s active and hard-working students.
Mher is a 2nd year BSc student at Yerevan State Medical University. He joined ABI in the summer of 2021 for OMICSS and continued his learning process at ABI by regularly participating in Journal Clubs and weekly seminars. Later, Mher joined ABI Research School to do a project on signaling pathways states in health and disease with integrative genomics under the supervision of Siras Hakobyan, Ph.D. Student, Institute of Molecular Biology NAS RA.
To the question of how working with ABI helps him develop professionally, Mher answered:
“How does bioinformatics help a medical student? This might seem a confusing question. I would say that, first of all, bioinformatics is a science, and it requires logical thinking and a good foundation in mathematics and biology. By doing bioinformatics, I not only promote scientific thinking but also keep up with developing technologies. Computer sciences are undergoing rapid evolution, and to be a good doctor or medical scientist in the future, I find bioinformatics skills fundamental.”
Mher shared his viewpoint on some of the advantages of ABI:
“Studying at ABI is a great experience. As a 2nd year BC student, I do not become a seasoned scientist or increase my chances of employment, but instead acquire research experience. I meet scientists, participate in knowledge exchanges, have access to many resources, etc.”
Mher also shared his long-term goals with us and how the experience and knowledge he got from ABI contribute to those goals:
“For really long-term goals, I plan to conduct my research after graduating from university in 4-5 years. The experience at ABI will make it easier to perform it more skillfully and produce a decent project. Now that I know about bioinformatics, I can conduct a proper statistical analysis for my project, visualize things, do a lot of different stuff with numbers and make it all happen easier than if I had to do it from scratch. Of course, this doesn’t mean that I won’t practice science until then; if I make it, I’ll explore science before graduating.”
Mher is one of the many remarkable students at ABI who work to expand the scope of their knowledge and strive to make the world a better place. If you believe in making a change and are passionate about science, you could be the next research student at ABI.