Research Assistant Public Health

MERCY NZISA KIOKO

*** **** ****, *********, *** York *******@***.*** 585-***-****

PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

Graduate-level researcher in Applied Statistics with a strong record of academic excellence (4.0 GPA) and ongoing contributions to statistical modeling and healthcare analytics. Experienced in causal inference, predictive modeling, and data visualization using R, Python, and SQL. Currently engaged in research on biological systems modeling with potential for peer-reviewed publication. Seeking to advance research in areas of public health, biostatistics, and mathematical modeling.

EDUCATION

MS Applied Statistics Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY Expected Dec 2025

GPA: 4.0/4.0

Bachelor of Statistics Jomo Kenyatta University Nairobi, Kenya December 2022

GPA: 3.8/4.0

SKILLS

R programming

Python programming

Minitab

SAS

MATLAB

Regression Analysis

Time Series Analysis

Power BI

Hypothesis Testing

Data cleaning

Excel functions

SQL and databases

Tableau software

EXPERIENCE

Graduate Research Assistant, RIT Rochester, NY January 2025-Current

Conducted advanced research in glucose-glycogen metabolic modeling; results intended for academic publication.

Applied causal inference methods on national health data (NHEFS) to evaluate public health outcomes.

Developed statistical models to evaluate treatment effects, risk profiles, and outcome predictions in biomedical contexts.

Created R-based analytic pipelines and visual dashboards to support research dissemination and reproducibility.

Research Assistant Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development Kenya Feb 2023 – Nov 2023

Led data-driven education policy analysis through quantitative research design and experimental methods.

Delivered statistical summaries and visualizations to support stakeholder decision-making at the national level.

Maintained large-scale research databases and implemented quality assurance procedures for data integrity.

Data Analyst Intern Cotton Experts Limited Nairobi, Kenya Sep 2022 – Dec 2022

Analyzed agricultural and sales datasets to optimize operations and pricing strategy.

Created dashboards in Tableau/Excel to track key performance indicators, increasing data transparency and response time.

Supported analytics for agricultural policy briefs and operational proposals.

RESEARCH PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS

Enhanced Glucose-Glycogen Model (Ongoing, RIT)

Developed a mechanistic model using differential equations to simulate metabolic transitions.

Research addresses gaps in understanding postprandial regulation and its implications in chronic disease modeling.

Smoking Cessation and Weight Gain

Used the NHEFS dataset to estimate the causal effect of quitting smoking on weight gain.

Compared G-computation, IPW, and bootstrapped inference in an applied health context.

Machine Learning: Titanic Survival Project

Built and evaluated classification models (logistic regression, random forest) using the Kaggle dataset as part of a team challenge.

INTERESTS

Data analysis, Machine learning, Health Analytics: Research

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