Rafael Castro '25

The field of psychiatry has always been important to me, and I wanted to apply my skills in data science to help diagnose patients. Mental disorders such as schizophrenia are not easy to test for, and the current “gold standards” are potentially inaccurate and lengthy psychiatric examinations. Therefore, being able to build more objective and accurate tests for disorders is a pressing issue within the field right now.

One characteristic of schizophrenia are motor abnormalities, which can manifest in handwriting. These handwriting abnormalities have also been shown to be a predictor of condition severity, meaning that as one’s mental condition gets worse, their handwriting abnormalities will be more noticeable as well.

My project developed a computational model that reads in a sample of handwriting and assists in a schizophrenia diagnosis. This is a highly accurate potential new tool for doctors which could streamline and improve accuracy of diagnosis.

My name is Rafael, and I’m a junior in IRP. I’ve always been really interested in math and computer science (two essential components of data science), and IRP gave me an opportunity to apply this interest to better understanding psychiatric disorders. I have learned more about the field of data science through courses such as MIT Beaver Works Summer Institute, a four-week summer program.

Outside of IRP, I am on the Varsity Cross-Country and Track team, work as the All-School Vice President for Hackley’s Student Government, and lead the STEM and CS Clubs. I’m happy to chat about my work!