Pieter Derdeyn

Graduate Student

I am a 2nd year PhD student in the Beier Lab, enrolled in the Mathematical, Computational, and Systems Biology PhD program. I graduated from Pomona College in 2016 with a BA in Applied Mathematics, where I did research using dynamical systems to model bacterial cell division. For the 3 years since graduating and coming to UCI, I worked as a QA at a software company in Long Beach and as a data scientist at a biotech startup, where I used machine learning and network science to study biomedical data. I came to UCI to apply my mathematical and computational interests to understanding neural circuits and found a home in the Beier Lab at the end of my 1st year. My research in the lab includes (1) developing our pipeline for cell detection in mouse brains and (2) using machine learning and network science to study high dimensional datasets. I developed a baking hobby during the pandemic, replacing the time I spent swimming. I also enjoy a number of science fiction and fantasy mediums.