Interviewed by Kanan Patel over Zoom.

About Jada’s Role/Ongoing Projects
Jada serves as a data analyst for the Dementia Care Aware team. Her responsibilities encompass coordinating the program overall, leading focused care groups and interviews, and conducting qualitative analyses using transcripts and the RedCaP database. Additionally, she contributes to social networking analyses for Dementia Care Aware, enhancing the organization's network. Her efforts aid in the early detection and diagnosis of dementia, thereby enhancing clinical care and facilitating the implementation of brain health care plans at the earliest opportunity.

Jada's favorite part of her job is her incredible teammates! They're invaluable to her, and she treasures working with them. She also enjoys the freedom and flexibility to try out new ideas. Her managers are highly supportive of her innovative suggestions.

What is a professional goal you would like to accomplish by the end of this year?
Jada's goal this year is to improve her data analysis skills and advance to a more senior position. She particularly enjoys program analysis and evaluation and aims to continue working in this field.

More about Jada
What’s one “fun fact” about you that not many people know? (e.g., hidden talent)
Jada is also a makeup artist. She started this as a side job during college, and it has continued to grow as a successful side business for her.

What are some causes you care about?
Jada is deeply passionate about women's reproductive health. Alongside her interest in geriatrics, she aims to transition into working in reproductive health in the near future.

What would your back-up career be?
Jada would be a dentist!  

Interviewed by Jada Smith over Zoom.

About Kanan’s Role/Ongoing Projects
Kanan works as a statistician, contributing to several projects. With principal investigators Sei Lee and Alex Smith, Kanan is involved in a project focusing on mortality prediction modeling for hospitalized older adults. This entails aiding in data abstraction and creating a harmonized database across multiple sites to improve outcomes and guide clinical decision-making, particularly for individuals with dementia aged 50 and older. Additionally, Kanan is engaged in a study on Advance Care Planning (ACP) implementations in a cluster-randomized pragmatic trial involving seriously ill older adults across three UC sites. This study aims to standardize ACP documentation, validate measures of ACP engagement, and ensure concordant care goals. Kanan enjoys collaborating with multidisciplinary teams and receives excellent support not only from the principal investigators but also from the statistics team.

Her favorite part of her position is collaborating with interdisciplinary teammates and having the flexibility to share ideas. She also values the strong support she receives not only from the principal investigators but also from the statistics team, which helps her continually advance her knowledge.

What is a professional goal you would like to accomplish by the end of this year?
Kanan's professional goal for this year is to improve her skillsets!

More about Kanan
What are you happiest doing in your free time?
Kanan finds joy in gardening, particularly in growing vegetables. Last year, she successfully cultivated strawberries and has now added a blueberry plant to her garden. She's hopeful that her grapevines will thrive too and is experimenting with growing certain Indian vegetables. Outside of gardening, Kanan cherishes spending time with her family, especially her son.

What would your back-up career be?
Kanan would be a chef because she likes to cook.