Nicholas Chen, BS
MPH | Yale School of Public Health | Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases
Laboratory of Epidemiology of Public Health (LEPH) | 60 College St. | New Haven, CT 06510
Email: [email protected] | Twitter
BS in Public Health – Saint Louis University
MPH Candidate in Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases – Yale School of Public Health
Growing up as the child of two hippie scientists in Northern California, science and nature have always been two constants throughout my life. When I ultimately left California to attend Saint Louis University, I decided I would combine these two passions towards a career in infectious disease field epidemiology, leading to my seemingly arbitrary majors in Public Health and Sociology with a minor in Biology. While in undergrad I alternated between stem cell research and studying the sociology of the opioid epidemic, and was fortunate, or unfortunate, enough to have been interning with the Saint Louis Health Department for the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This opportunity gave me first-hand experience with applied epidemiology and while the work was meaningful, I found I missed the wet lab and severely lacked the people skills for a public facing position.
This realization ultimately led me down the path of genomic epidemiology and into the Grubaugh lab, where I am currently working on SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance and monkeypox assay development. Here I continue to explore my interests in genomics, applied epidemiology, virology, and infectious disease modeling.
When not in the lab I enjoy cooking, going on long runs with my dog Winston, and daydreaming of starting a small organic farm.
