Dr. Amir Bamani fell into the depths of despair after losing his wife Someira in 2014. Her doctors mistook her severe pain for inflammation of her gallbladder and missed signs of her malignant cancer.
“If we had collected the data, we would have known that something was going on under the hood, that there were big changes happening in cancer patients,” said Bahmani, director of Stanford University’s Center for Deep Data Research. . “They could have caught it earlier and given her a better chance.”
In his grief, he realized how much data science could impact healthcare and potentially save lives. That’s when he decided to bridge the gap and bring the fields closer together to create a precision medicine approach that could make a difference for Someira.
“We want to create a common language between engineers, biologists and doctors,” said Burmani, a high-performance computer scientist. “We don’t need to know everything, but we do need to know enough to communicate effectively with each other.”
You don’t need to know everything, but you should know enough to be able to communicate effectively with each other.
Amir Burmani
Bahmani was ready to dedicate his life to medicine. But as an Iranian immigrant with no financial means, he faced major obstacles. He was the first in his Iranian class to win a fellowship abroad. This is almost unthinkable, but he received a research fellowship at North Carolina State University and earned his PhD in computer science.
After struggling to obtain a visa, Someira, whom he had met as an undergraduate, was able to join North Carolina State University’s engineering department as a research assistant. Together they dreamed of raising a family and building a better life in America.
Then came the severe pain in my side, and suddenly my young husband’s worst nightmare was unfolding before my eyes. Someira was only 26 years old when she died.
However, the grieving Bahmani could not have predicted the difficulties she would face as she continued to live alone in their shared American dream. After returning to Iran to bury Someira, he narrowly avoided being drafted into the Iranian army, but his delay in renewing his visa meant he was stopped by Iranian authorities and almost lost his research status, he said. Ta.
“In six months I lost everything. I lost my best friend, my wife, and now I was worried that I was going to lose my career,” he said. Then luck struck. He received notice from the U.S. Embassy in Armenia that a visa was awaiting him in Armenia.
accept the challenge
Further challenges awaited him upon his return to the United States. Bahamani’s Iranian background prevented him from collaborating with scientists at U.S. national laboratories in the field of high-performance computing. Fortunately, a mentor introduced him to researchers at the Duke Cancer Institute at Duke University School of Medicine.
It would lead to his first big break. He won a $10,000 grant from Amazon Web Services (AWS) through its program to fight cancer using cloud services, a cost-effective way to store and process large amounts of data. Ta. He collaborated with researchers at Duke University to publish his first cancer research paper in 2015 on a rapid statistical method that associates specific cancers with specific mutations.
This introduction to genetics started Bahmani down a difficult but fascinating path. As a computer scientist, the world of genetics seemed daunting. There was a lot to learn. He recalls hearing the term “messenger RNA” from a collaborator at Duke University early on.
I didn’t know what (messenger RNA) was. It’s scary when you move into a different field.
Amir Burmani
“I didn’t know what it was,” he said. “It’s scary when you move into a different field.”
To expand his knowledge and embrace challenges, he took an internship that summer at Illumina, which builds computer systems for genetic analysis. He was hired by the company in Palo Alto, Calif., the following year, and then joined Stanford University in 2017 as a biomedical data scientist, working under Dr. Michael Snyder, FACS Professor of Genetics and Stanford W. Asherman Professor. Department of Genetics.
That year, Snyder was able to self-diagnose Lyme disease before symptoms appeared by using a wearable device that showed measurable signs of an internal fight against the pathogen. Mr. Snyder published extensive research on the process that involved collecting large amounts of data, such as 2 his pedabytes or his 2 million gigabytes.
It was clear that Bahmani needed a better way to store and process all of that data, so he turned to cloud computing to help build a system called My Personal Health Dashboard (MyPHD). and has since facilitated more than 30 research studies involving more than 10,000 participants.
Using this technology, he and his collaborators, including doctors, geneticists, and computer scientists, developed two algorithms that detect COVID-19 infections seven to eight days before symptoms appear, based on changes in the body. was developed. They also devised a COVID-19 alert system to give people early warning of the onset of an infectious disease.The work was published in 2022 natural medicine.
accurate education
Bahmani wanted to expand the community of people who could work on these complex, interdisciplinary problems. So, with Snyder’s help, he developed the course. Cloud computing for biology and healthcarewhich included talks by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and other luminaries in the field.
“I have always believed that in order to provide precision medicine, we need to engage in precision education,” said Bahamany, who is currently a lecturer in the Department of Genetics. “If there is anyone who wants to contribute to healthcare around the world, there should be an opportunity for them.”
We recently developed a new certification program. Fundamentals of precision medicine and cloud computingis a self-paced curriculum in medicine, genetics, and data science for high school, college, and graduate students. Start with lessons on data privacy and move on to topics such as programming, statistics, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, medical imaging, genomics, wearable devices, and more.
Bahmani believes these trainees have much to offer the world of medicine, which is why he is making these educational opportunities free to underserved students, those with incomes less than $70,000. I am working hard to make this happen.
Additionally, he wants to give back to a system that allows people like him, Iranian immigrants from humble backgrounds, to thrive when given opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise have. The program is offered through a nonprofit organization, and he is seeking additional support.
To truly build trust and establish a comprehensive health system, we need to equip more researchers and experts from disadvantaged communities.
Amir Burmani
“To truly build trust and establish a comprehensive health system, we need to prepare more researchers and experts from disadvantaged communities. We need to prepare more researchers and experts from disadvantaged communities. “We’re looking for that,” he said.
In the process, he hopes to save more patients from the kind of mistakes that took his wife away.
“This was all done in her memory,” he said. “Detecting these diseases earlier may prevent such tragedies for others.”
Main image: Jim Gensheimer
