Our First Data Science in Biomedicine MS Program Graduates

Data Science in Biomedicine MS
February 17, 2026

By Samantha Andrews | Computational Medicine, UCLA

The UCLA Data Science in Biomedicine MS program started in the fall of 2023 with an inaugural class of nine students. Today, the mostly online, part-time program is home to 81 students and counting! The exponential growth of our program is in large part due to the dedicated students participating in it.

The Department of Computational Medicine is incredibly proud to announce the first students to graduate from the DSB program! Our first graduating students include:

Troy Sisson

  • Capstone Project:
    Imputation of Arterial Blood Pressure Waveform from Non-Invasive Measurements using Deep Learning

  • Post-Graduation Plans:
    “I am currently working as a SWE consultant doing EHR integration for a small business. I would like to conduct research towards applying machine learning applications in clinical settings in the future.”

Demetri Nicolaou

  • Capstone Project:
    Predicting individual treatment effects using meta-learning

Ira Shirdhankar

  • Capstone Project:
    Survival Analysis of Glioblastoma Patients

  • Post-Graduation Plans:
    “I currently work as a data analyst at an insurance company, where I’ve been since starting the DSB program. Now that I’ve completed the program, I plan to transition into a data scientist role within healthcare, with a stronger interest in health tech and product-focused companies. I’m particularly drawn to aspects of the industry that focus on general well-being and everyday health, as I value the opportunity to make a meaningful impact on daily life.

    I’m interested in exploring areas in health technology and predictive modeling that use user-generated data to deliver personalized health insights. My capstone project focused on predicting patient outcomes with the underlying goal also to support clinical decision making, and I’m motivated to apply similar approaches at the individual and everyday level.”

Waleed Khan

  • Capstone Project:
    An Investigation into Patient Flow in the OBGYN Ward at UCLA Health

  • Post-Graduation Plans:
    “Being part of the program’s inaugural class has been a defining experience. From UCLA Biodesign collaboration and AI Fellowship to large-scale model optimization at xAI, my passion and work have continued to solidify at the intersection of healthcare and AI.

    Whether mapping Alzheimer’s pathology through 4D neuroimaging, presenting this research at our UCLA Data Science in Biomedicine Fall Symposium, or working on physics-informed diffusion models for hemodynamic monitoring at UCLA Health, my focus remains on collaborating and engineering AI that is both physically consistent and clinically actionable.

    Looking ahead, I am excited to apply this expertise to the next frontier of computational genomics and precision imaging, as I transition into founding a new initiative. My goal is to lead initiatives that translate biomedical data into scalable and impactful precision-medicine solutions, and I look forward to staying connected with the DSB community as we continue to push the boundaries of what is possible.”

Congratulations! We are so proud of your accomplishments and look forward to what’s next for the four of you. Best of luck to you all in your future endeavors!

If you are interested in learning more about our Data Science in Biomedicine MS program, please visit our website: https://datasciencebiomedicine.ucla.edu/

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