Student Spotlight – Xian Gu

As an undergraduate major in informatics and computer science, Xian Gu interned with a hospital information technology company. As is often the case with internships, the experience helped her to refine her career goals. For Xian the experience made her realize she wanted to more directly impact clinical decisions and outcomes.

Now a student in the Department of Biostatistics, Xian is again interning — this time with the Veterans Administration. There she is working on analyses for a study of outcomes for patients with depression who have not been responsive to their initial treatments. This is Xian’s first time working with clinicians, and she notes that clinicians and statisticians are focused on different priorities. “It is important to reach agreement on study designs and analysis so that the results can be solid and best serve patients now and in the future,” she says.

A native of Hangzhou, China, Xian was enamored with the sport of curling that she saw during the winter Olympics. She seized the opportunity at Yale to join the Yale Grad Curling Club that hits the ice in Bridgeport every Sunday. In addition to her first foray a winter sport, she has met and shares perspectives with students from astronomy, chemistry, immunology and the history of science and medicine.