Wendy Tang Rose Hills
Estimating Time to Disease Course Transition in Multiple Sclerosis Patients
This summer, I plan on studying the longitudinal effect of multiple sclerosis on patients who have different disease courses. Multiple sclerosis is a disease of the central nervous system that is characterized by patterns of disability over time. Some patients experience a single episode of disability while others experience tremendous disability after onset. When treating a patient, physicians are uncertain how a patients disease will evolve over time. Since the beginning of the UCSF MS Epic study in 2004, patient data in the form of electronic medical records (EMR) have made it possible to analyze not just clinical traits, but also neuroimage and genetic traits. With the data from the longitudinal study, I plan on conducting survival analysis on patients who progress from one stage of the disease to another in the hopes of elucidating trends in disability.
Message To Sponsor
I would like to thank my PIs and sponsor for providing me with this learning opportunity. Before I considered doing SURF, I was struggling to find an area of statistical application that interested me. When the SURF opportunity arose, I surfed around for fields that I could do meaningful research and found an exciting and ambitious project that has carved the path for my future academic endeavors. The opportunity has given me a clearer direction to my undergraduate studies, and I could not be more grateful for SURF and the Rose Hills Foundation!