B.S. Paulina Gonzalez Orozco
About me
I am Paulina Gonzalez Orozco, a international student from Guatemala in the PhD in Epidemiology & Biostatistics program at Case Western Reserve University. Under the mentorship of Jonathan L. Haines, I study the gentic architecture of Alzheimer's disease using statistical genetics, bioinformatics, and multi-ancestry approaches. My interdisciplinary experience spans epigentic biomarkers, explainable artificial intelligence, autism and assitive technologies, and global health. My work so for has resulted in three publications and several national and international scientific conferences.
I am a Guatemalan scientist and PhD student in Epidemiology and Biostatistics in the Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. In Spring 2025, I earned a Bachelor of Science in Population Health, with minors in Biostatistics and Probability and Statistics, from Lehigh University, graduating with High Honors.
My doctoral research is under the mentorship of Jonathan L. Haines. It focuses on the genetic epidemiology of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. My work involves harmonizing genomic datasets, prioritizing candidate genes across genome-wide association study loci, and developing multi-ancestry fine-mapping analyses to identify plausible causal variants and biological mechanisms. I amparticularly interested in improving the representation of historically underrepresented populations in genomic research. I have presented some of this work on the Alzheimer's Association International Conference on July, 2026, and will present a poster on the American Sociaty of Human Genetics annual meeting in October, 2026.
I also collaborate on research examining DNA methylation-derived protein biomarkers and biological aging across human tissues under Dr. Fredrick Schumacher. And am part of the PREVAIL project focused on studying the protective role of breastfeeding on infant disease under Dr. Shannon Conrey.
As an undergraduate, I applied explainable machine learning to handwriting data as a potential accessible and non-invasive approach to Alzheimer’s disease detection. This work resulted in a first-author Springer conference paper and a co-authored article in Healthcare Technology Letters. I also co-authored a publication on faculty supported undergraduate involvement in community-engaged research with lessons learned from being part of the Social Impact Fellowship. My broader global-health experience includes contributing to the development of culturally appropriate autism screening approaches in Sierra Leone, where my team interviewed more than 140 community members, health workers, educators, and parents.
Then trough Lehigh’s STEM-SI Fellowship, I investigated assistive technologies for autistic adolescents and young adults transitioning to higher education, employment, and independent living. I presented this work at the 2024 Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists. In Spring 2025, I completed an internship with Program for Appropiate Technologies for Health (PATH) in Geneva, were I applied machine learning and forecasting methods to pediatric and maternal-health projects.
Besides research, during my undergradute degree I worked at the Center of Gender Equity and Student Senate to encourgae positive change and advocacy. Now in my gradute studies I serve as Vice President of Social and Special Programming in Case Western Reserve University’s Graduate Student Council. I am committed to advancing equitable, data-driven health research and expanding scientific and leadership opportunities for women from Guatemala and across the Global South.