A bioinformatics scientist at Research Triangle Institute (RTI), Melyssa Minto, ’17, had her first research experience while attending a summer research opportunity at North Carolina Central University after she graduated from an early college high school.

“I think my favorite part about my work now is being able to combine different kinds of data to answer complex questions,” she said.

For Minto, the connections she made with professors at Meredith College gave her the confidence to fight for what she wanted.

During her time at Meredith, Minto had to work harder than many students to achieve her goals. “I  learned to advocate for myself in terms of what I wanted to do. I was undocumented when I was in undergrad which meant that a lot of the research opportunities that were paid, required being a permanent resident. I had to find creative ways to get those kinds of research experiences to build up my resume to go to grad school or just go into research in general. I learned how to make connections with people and find creative ways to get the experiences that I needed in order to move on to the next step.” 

Minto, who recently completed a Ph.D. program in computational biology and bioinformatics at Duke University, said “I’m interested in finding out and researching the intersection between genetics, epigenetics, and social determinants of health.”

The decision to begin her Ph.D. program started as a way to advance her career but quickly turned into a way to think more independently and feel more confident in her skills.

“When I look back at it, I picked up and learned and mastered a lot of skills during my Ph.D. I also learned how to think more independently as a scientist and look at new findings or see if they asked a slightly different question. I think it developed my intuition as a scientist to continue to ask different questions and come up with new ways to investigate already published data.”

To those interested in pursuing a career in this field, Minto suggests exploring the different types of opportunities that are available.

The growing biomedical field allows for more opportunities for incoming scientists. “I think it’s important to figure out what your niche is in bioinformatics. For me, I’m really interested in that intersection between genomics and social determinants of health but you can do a lot under the umbrella of bioinformatics. I think it’s more important to figure out what questions you are most passionate about answering.”