Student Profiles

Nyasha Chambwe

Life is a journey. Enjoy the ride. —Nissan Automobiles

Nyasha’s path to studying computational biology was circuitous to say the least. As a native of Zimbabwe, she completed high school and attended the University of Zimbabwe for a semester in the Environmental Science program. Growing up in an agro-based economy, the environment held a certain fascination for her, but in general, she was intrigued by all things science.

Nyasha was recruited to study medicine at Saint Petersburg State Pediatric Medical Academy in Russia. However, after one year, Nyasha left Russia to pursue a lifelong dream of playing basketball. She enrolled at Jackson State University and pursued a bachelor’s degree in Biology and a dream of playing professional basketball. However, the lure of science proved stronger.

Nyasha spent the summer between her junior and senior year working at Princeton University with Dr. Thomas Silhavy. She studied the suppression of translocator jamming in E. coli by proto-oncogenes and discovered a deep passion for research.

“I applied to the CBM program because of the unique nature of the program. In this program the opportunities are endless; you have the ability to work with faculty in different institutions, and the flexibility to pursue a particular program of study tailored to your interests and background.” Nyasha currently works in the laboratory of Dr. Fabien Campagne, working on developing efficient algorithms to analyze next-generation sequencing data. In particular, she is applying these algorithms to the study of epigenetic modifications in Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphomas. Nyasha is investigating how genomic scale information can help predict disease classification and response to chemotherapy. “Working at Weill-Cornell Medical College in close proximity to New York Presbyterian Hospital and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center keeps me grounded and cognizant of the impact our work can have on tackling human disease.”