Dr. Trish Raciti DeCenzo ’02 Shares Research in Machine Learning in Computer Vision with ISRP Students

On May 3, the Independent Science Research Program had the honor of hosting Dr. Trish Raciti DeCenzo ’02, who spoke with students via Zoom about one of her research projects that is utilizing Machine Learning in Computer Vision to identify cancerous cells quickly and accurately to aid a pathologist.

Dr. DeCenzo was a natural teacher, utilizing analogies to help students understand the complicated science. One student commented: “Her presentation was very easy to follow, as she used numerous analogies and explained concepts in an easy-to-understand way. I also like how she acknowledged that it is possible to make contributions to fields you are not an expert in, and you don't need to know the technical aspects of machine learning in order to work with it (although it certainly helps).”
 
Dr. DeCenzo’s career path exemplified Hackley’s own mission statement “to offer unreserved effort.”  Although Dr. DeCenzo is a trained pathologist, in medical school, she took the opportunities to learn about artificial intelligence, which led her to the project she described.

Another student reflected: “I really liked Dr. DeCenzo’s story about how she got her job working with an AI company. She knew that the presentation she had to put together [in medical school] wasn’t for a grade, but she still decided to really dive into research and become knowledgeable on something that wasn’t necessarily relevant to her [direct] field of work. It ended up really paying off for her anyway. I think it’s important to really put effort into everything you do, even if you don’t see why yet.”
 
Thank you to Dr. DeCenzo for taking time out of her busy schedule to visit with our aspiring scientists!

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All alumni/parents with present or past experiences in scientific research have a standing invitation to isit the Independent Science Research Program. Our future scientists love hearing your stories, and these talks are formative to their careers. If you are interested, please reach out to Dr. Andrew Ying at aying@hackleyschool.org.
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