Q – Stefano: How did you like your internship at 4bases?
A – Jamila:
I really, really loved it. I was initially a bit worried because I was lacking a lot of the prerequisites to work on this type of project, but I really feel like you guided me through it so perfectly. You left me a lot of space to learn and having these weekly calls I felt like you really cared about my learning and that we were having this type of exchange. You never seemed annoyed with my questions. You seemed happy and enthusiastic that I was enjoying what we were doing. So it was a great experience.
Q – Jamila: What did I bring to you/your team that you particularly appreciated?
A – Stefano:
Well, many things. Honestly, I have to say. This is my second experience with this kind of internship. So I don’t have many comparisons, but honestly probably the thing that I appreciated the most is your enthusiasm and your passion for learning in general.
I would say that was my impression actually, about the kind of challenges that we were tackling. What I particularly appreciated in terms of enthusiasm and passion that you conveyed that you demonstrated here is that you looked very humble, first of all, which is not that common in my experience. I mean, you look very prone to be curious to generally learn what can be learned. And you were not afraid to ask. And that was a great thing for me to see you were truly passionate about learning something and the questions that you asked were never silly, because they were generally aimed to learn something. And this was pretty evident. So probably, this is what I appreciated most, the true intention to learn something and last part, this is a sort of multidisciplinary topic. Working in bioinformatics require interest in both the biological part and the technical part, and they are both huge subjects, so integrating them and learning them requires a very open minded.
Q – Stefano: Please, tell me what your key learnings from this internship are
A – Jamila:
So this is a hard question because I learned so much that it’s hard to pinpoint which ones are the most important. Well, first of all, on the technical side, I learned the basics of bioinformatics. I had never learned about DNA sequencing in biology class, but it’s more like: “oh this exists…” and you actually took the time to explain me multiple things. And you explain to me how to use certain tools like IGV. I learned about splice AI and you showed me like all of the databases like Zero. I also had to refresh some of my biology knowledges, which I really enjoyed. And you also advised me in terms of resources of what I could read if I wanted to dedicate some extra time or just in general. So that was amazing. And then that was my first experience in the industry. I had some like little research experience before, very little, but it was really cool to be in that spot where you bridge between research and industry, right? Because when you’re working in these university labs, you want someone to use it at some point, especially when you’re doing medical research. And so, you know, seeing the part where you dig through the search, but now you want to build something that people are going to use and that is amazing. This was one of the key learnings for me, I love being in this exact spot and it feels very meaningful in terms of impact that you can have and I also learned some soft skills.
So I would say that you may be very comfortable in terms of being able to ask questions. I’m like this in general, but there have been a few environments where I’m a bit shyer. You made me comfortable right away. And so that reinforced me wanting to ask all of the questions that I can have. I learned to be the right mix between independent and still coming to you If I had an issue.
So there was something that I trained and so, yeah, I think the basics of bioinformatics that I actually love because I had never learned about it before, it was kind of something obscure. I also appreciated that you can actually participate meaningfully in medicine and the big role that it plays. I learned about that with this internship, so that was very, very precious.
Q – Jamila: Are you going to offer other internships like this in the future?
A – Stefano:
Yeah. Absolutely. Well, of course it is not totally dependent on me, but from my point of view of course, because I think it’s extremely useful, and it’s a key learning opportunity, not only for the students of course, but also for us. From many points of view, also in terms of soft skills. I think that for us, the specific case for me, but for everybody, having a similar role, it’s super important. It is really helpful in terms of how to convey certain concepts that you take for granted in a way, how to, you know, sort of stimulate interest also in people about topic that could look, Yeah, interesting interface, but very technical, very complex, a sort of niche in a way.
So I would definitely say yes. Yes, even because for us it is a great opportunity to find people who can be interested and maybe working with us or collaborating with us and developing new ideas. I honestly believe, and it also comes from my background, that people who are studying something related to either biology or computer science and who are younger can bring new ideas, maybe in terms of how to tackle a challenge, how to, you know, solve a technical problem. So continuous and deep exchange with students can be extremely useful for both parts, so definitely yes.
Q – Stefano: What would you say about us to potential candidates?
A – Jamila:
So when I talk about 4bases, I explain, particularly to other students, that your company develops genetic diagnostic kits. I mention that, for instance, these tests are useful to better diagnose a lot of different diseases. I tell them about 4bases and I also tell them about bioinformatics in general because we don’t have any specific courses on this specific topic, because a lot of us don’t really know what bioinformatics is about. So I explain how informatics is important in diagnosing diseases, early, before they appear or when these diseases are already present. We – as bioinformaticians – can help clinicians make precise diagnoses or assess susceptibility to develop certain diseases.
For example, some of the literature that you sent me was about rare diseases. The very, very rare ones, like orphan diseases. That’s something that raised my attention and demonstrated the fact that by doing this kind of work you can actually have a strong impact on these people’s lives. You don’t think about it when you haven’t gone through some health issues, but getting to a diagnostic often is the hardest part, depending on what you’re suffering from.
So, by giving access to a precise diagnostic, this type of tools can really save lives and/or quality of life even for diseases that are not deadly. Not having a diagnosis, all can get much worse. So I actually use to say that you’re developing genetic diagnostic solutions and that one of the things you work on is cancer. You don’t necessarily need to know what pharma is about, or you don’t need machine learning knowledge in order to participate in such an internship. I was really straightforward with you and I emailed actually the coordinator, I said.
I really wanted to do this internship, but I don’t have the machine learning knowledge.
Currently I don’t have bioinformatics knowledge and Stefano you were amazing because you emailed me a lot of resources If I wanted to prepare, but I didn’t feel pressured to prepare in advance, but so there was all of this basically in a summary. You can build medical solutions that really matter, 4bases is a very welcoming place even the founder was so friendly and nice.
He was so welcoming and from the get-go I felt really comfortable with everyone.
So I tell my fellow students, if you happen to see 4bases in the list for the SA5 (Software Atelier 5) internships or for any internship and you’re interested in learning about bioinformatics or you’re interested into meaningful machine learning, please put it on your list, don’t even hesitate. Just put it on the list, you will be in good hands. You will learn so much.
And I was really, really happy and Yeah, I almost felt guilty sometimes because I felt like I was getting so much from you. Like the time that you were investing in the weekly calls and everything and I knew also that you were at my disposition if I had other questions or emails. It was an amazing experience so what I would say to potential candidates is just go for it, with no hesitation. Go for it, I would do it again and it really made me reconsider a lot of things, and I’m still reconsidering a lot of things because initially I went into computer science because I wanted to work within AI ethics or let’s say, building ethical mission learning. I was also interested in meaningful applications of machine learning and I realized that I really, really enjoy bioinformatics and so now I’m even considering orienting my masters towards that, because this was a discovery, as you said and so I mean, just do it. It’s an experience that will change you, both professionally and personally. That’s all I have to say to potential candidates.
