Harvard Research Fellowship Spotlight

Harvard Research Fellowship Spotlight: Maren Downing, MEng

HOMETOWN: Columbia, SC

EDUCATION: BS and MEng Biomedical Engineering, Clemson University; Summer Research Fellowship - Harvard University Longwood T-35 Vascular Surgery Fellowship

FELLOWSHIP OVERVIEW:

Student Doctor Downing was a Research Fellow at Harvard-Longwood Vascular Surgery Short Term Research Harvard University Surgical Bioinformatics Lab, Boston, MA | 2021

Downing worked under Dr. Gabriel Brat on an intra-operative computer vision model in conjunction with Stanford University to measure surgical behaviors. Witnessed over 40 surgeries spanning across General, Plastics, Vascular, and Cardiac specialties.

She worked to characterize challenges and successes in mobilizing healthcare data during a crisis by analyzing lessons on rapid evidence generation in the era of COVID-19.

WHAT RESEARCH ARE YOU INVOLVED IN NOW?

I am still a part of the Surgical Informatics lab with Dr. Brat. I was invited to continue after my short summer experience. I meet with the lab as I can throughout the week and contribute remotely.

I am seeing what kind of role AI plays in surgery and healthcare in general, and looking to see how I can be involved with this in the future. I aspire to combine Biomedical Engineering into my professional career, whether that be through medical devices or bio-informatics.

ARE YOU INVOLVED IN RESEARCH IN ANY OTHER WAY?

I am working to bring research projects to the University’s free clinic: The Campbell University Community Care Clinic. I am the Executive Director

of the clinic this year, and have been working to start Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine research in the rural and underserved population. This would set precedent for the classes to come to continue to utilize our very own clinic for projects, and to provide = data coming from a student run clinic.

HOW DOES THIS FIT WITH YOUR FUTURE?

I want to be a surgeon, and I want to use medical devices in my career somehow. Product innovation during my previous degrees has led me to work with many clinicians. I aspire to be on the other side and serve as a consultant. Every medical device needs a clinician on board, and I think I could apply these experiences to help move medicine forward in that way.