Jada Allen '25 - Four Directions Summer Research Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital

This summer, I interned with Brigham and Women’s Obstetrics and Gynecology Epidemiology Center through the Four Directions Summer Research Program. The Four Directions Summer Research Program is a collaboration between Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, facilitated by Brigham and Women’s Center for Diversity & Inclusion. As an epidemiology research intern, I worked on two research projects based in Boston, Massachusetts and supported by Harvard’s School of Public Health.

My primary project was the New England Case-Control Study which is a population-based case-control study that enrolled women with ovarian cancer from New Hampshire and eastern Massachusetts from 1992 to 2008. My role was to analyze the most recently collected data and assess the potential selection bias of the New England Case-Control Study’s ovarian cancer tissue microarray’s (TMAs) using the estimated risk factor associations. My analysis focused on oral contraceptive use, IUD use, and endometriosis risk factor associations and its linkage with ovarian cancer histotypes, or different types of ovarian cancer.

In addition, I worked on the Adolescence to Adulthood (A2A) study, an active case-control study that follows girls and women diagnosed with endometriosis, a reproductive disease that affects 1 in 10 women. My role was primarily lab-based, I processed, labeled, and digitally cataloged biofluid samples for the center’s biorepository according to research guidelines. Outside of the lab, I also input survey data into REDCap and developed packages to be sent to research participants.

At the end of the Four Directions Summer Research Program, Brigham and Women’s Center for Diversity & Inclusion hosted a symposium for all its research interns. At this symposium, I presented my findings on the New England Case Control (NECC) study, my presentation was titled “Assessing potential selection bias in ovarian tumor tissue microarray (TMA) analyses” to fellow research interns, Harvard and Brigham research mentors, and the Center for Diversity & Inclusion staff.

Throughout this research experience, I developed a deeper understanding of large-scale research projects, including the infrastructure needed and the significance of identifying contributors to a project. As a result, I grew an appreciation for thoughtful study design and the complex nature of research. Outside of my role as an epidemiology research intern, I sought to expand my knowledge by attending talks by various researchers and medical professionals, attending Harvard Medical School networking events, and shadowing in Brigham and Women’s Emergency Room. My time with the Four Directions Summer Research Program was a career changing experience that developed my skills as a researcher, gave me the confidence to pursue my interest in public health, and taught me how to establish relationships with professionals in my chosen field.