Database Reference
In-Depth Information
the ability to work with statistics will enable you to make smarter decisions in
any field you choose. For example, we can read about how an athlete's perfor-
mance is improved through data, like someone becoming the gold medalist in
the long jump because they optimized and practiced the angle at which they
should jump. This is all led by a data-driven approach to sports.
If I were to go into more specific technical advice, then it depends on the
ambitions of the person who is receiving the advice. If the person wants to
create new methods and tools, then that advice would be very different. You
need to persist and keep going in your direction, and you will succeed. But
if your intent is to be diverse and flexible in many situations, then you want
to have a big toolbox of different methods. I think the best advice given to
me was given by a Stanford professor whose course I attended a while ago.
He recommended having a T-shaped profile of competence but with a small
second competence next to the core competence, so that you have an alter-
native route in life if you need it or want it. In addition to the vertical stem of
single-field expertise, he recommended that you have the horizontal bar of
backgrounds broad enough so that you can work with many different people
in many different situations. So the while you are in a university, building a T
shape with another small competence in it is probably the best thing to do.
Maybe the most important thing is to surround yourself with people greater
than you are and to learn from them. That's the best advice. If you're in a
university, that's the best environment to see how diverse the capabilities of
people are. If you manage to work with the best people, then you will succeed
at anything.
Gutierrez:
What is something someone starting out should try to under-
stand very deeply sooner than later?
Karpištšenko:
You should understand that overnight success takes about
ten years, so you should expect to go through a lot before success finds you.
You should persist and be ready to do the hard work. The idea or the initial
enthusiasm is just a small part of doing something great.
Gutierrez:
What data sets or problems would you love to see tackled?
Karpištšenko:
That's the big challenge of the day. I think personalized medi-
cine holds great promise. Having great open genetic libraries and having access
to the gene pool of humans will be very important. Most important will be
developing these data sets, tools, and methodologies in such a way that still
preserves privacy and helps us to transition into this new period of much less
privacy.
There is a lot of work to be done in how we collect data and how we process
it so that we don't break people's privacy. A good example of the work being
done in this area is a product called Sharemind, which allows us to do statis-
tics on data sets without breaching the privacy of the individuals involved. This
