Profile

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Kelly Charniga

My CV

  • Education:

    Roosevelt Elementary School, Livonia, MI, USA
    St. Genevieve Catholic School, Livonia, MI, USA
    Livonia Stevenson High School, Livonia, MI, USA
    Madonna University, Livonia, MI, USA
    University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
    Imperial College London, London, UK

  • Qualifications:

    Bachelor of Science in biology with a minor in Spanish
    Master of Public Health in epidemiology

  • Work History:

    Community Affairs Intern at the Mexican Consulate, Detroit, MI, USA
    Epidemiology Fellow at the Detroit Health Department, Detroit, MI, USA
    Department of Homeland Security HS-STEM Intern at ICE Health Service Corps, Washington DC, USA

  • Current Job:

    PhD student in the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology

  • About Me:

    I am a third year PhD student at Imperial College London in infectious disease epidemiology and a semi-retired competitive weightlifter.

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    I grew up in Livonia, Michigan, USA and currently live in London, UK. I used to compete in Olympic-style weightlifting and was an alternate on the USA Senior World Championship Team in 2014. I am fluent in Spanish and am learning French. One of my goals is to visit all of the “stan” countries. So far, I have visited Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan (pictured below). Most of my wardrobe consists of dresses (vintage or vintage-inspired). I am American with Polish/Italian/Ukrainian ancestry and will be the first person in my family to graduate with a PhD.

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    As an epidemiologist, I use elements of biology, statistics, cartography (map making), computer science, and meteorology (study of weather) in my work.

    I spend a lot of time trying to make pretty graphs and figures on a computer.

    I make A LOT of mistakes but that is part of the process of doing a PhD!

    My office is at Imperial College London’s St. Mary’s Hospital campus in Paddington (pictured below), which is where Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin.

    The data for my research comes from Colombia. During my PhD, I have visited the country twice. The first time was for a month-long course on public health at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá. The second time, I returned to Javeriana to help run an international course on outbreak analysis and modeling for public health.

  • My Typical Day:

    (Before COVID-19) I arrive at my office in Central London at 8 am. I spend the day on my computer coding in the R language, Googling how to do things in R, reading scientific articles, and writing up results. I take regular snack and tea breaks to chat with my coworkers in the kitchen.

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    Twice a week, the department hosts seminars during which scientists come and talk to us about their work.

    Every few weeks, I meet with my supervisors to go over my research. They do not live in London, so we usually meet over video calls.

    About once per year, I have the opportunity to travel for conferences to present my research.

    I think work-life balance is very important, so I leave the office every day by 4 pm. I work out about 5 days a week.

  • My Interview

    • How would you describe yourself in 3 words?

      Strong, confident, intelligent

      What did you want to be after you left school?

      Epidemiologist

      Were you ever in trouble at school?

      No, but I had nightmares about missing the bus and being late for class.

      Who is your favourite singer or band?

      Lindsey Stirling

      What's your favourite food?

      My mom's homemade gnocchi

      If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!

      1. I wish I could have met my paternal grandmother. She helped make airplanes at the Willow Run plant during WWII and loved fashion! 2. I wish I could speak Farsi. 3. I wish I could sing.

      Tell us a joke.

      I don't consider myself funny (but I recently tried stand-up comedy)!

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