Baran Khoraminejad

How did you get involved in research?

I started seeking research opportunities early on during my freshman year of college by reading papers published by faculty at local universities and reaching out to those whose work I was particularly interested in. I was beyond lucky that Dr. Benharash gave me a chance despite my limited knowledge of medicine; and I am grateful for all of the opportunities I have had within CORELAB as well as here at BU since then.

How did you meet your mentor?

I heard about CORELAB from word of mouth and got an opportunity to meet with Dr. Benharash for an interview upon further research of the lab’s work.

What has your UROP experience taught you?

UROP has served as an incredibly supportive and generous establishment on campus that has allowed me to pursue my main passion — research — and partake in incredible opportunities despite logistical barriers. I am grateful for UROP on campus for their ongoing attempt to encourage and expand research opportunities at BU.

How has this experience helped you with non-research related things at BU?

I think UROP has challenged me to approach the social aspect of research. Specifically, tasking me with producing detailed written elaborations of my research endeavors in a manner that is accessible to individuals who may or may not be active in the field. Secondarily, UROP allowed me the opportunity to network with other faculty on campus.

What does a day in your research life look like?

We typically draw inspiration through literary reviews and form our projects by targeting relevant topics and controversies in surgery, applied to a patient cohort who we believe is more extensively impacted. To gather and analyze data we rely mostly on ICD codes and STATA and spend most of our days writing STATA programs that allow us to isolate our patient cohorts and determine their clinical and demographic information as well as their outcomes following admission for a given condition. Days not spent on active studies usually entail manuscript composition and editing.

What advice would you give to someone interested in UROP? Describe your UROP experience in 1-3 sentences.

Research opportunities at such a research-focused university are plentiful, but also competitive to obtain. I highly recommend students utilize UROP for resources that can help simplify the search for these opportunities.

Upon transferring to BU, UROP was really helpful in terms of identifying faculty who conduct research related to my field of interest; and they have now, for two years in a row, made it possible for me to fly to different conferences and present work I spent the majority of my summer putting together. I am beyond UROP for making these opportunities a possibility and supporting me through these experiences.