Brendan K. Ball earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering in 2021 from the University of Washington, Seattle, then matriculated to Purdue, where he is a PhD student in biomedical engineering. His research employs artificial intelligence and machine learning methods to develop insights into drug therapy, applying them to type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease. He is first author on a manuscript and co-author on another related to this topic. He served as co-president of the Biomedical Engineering Graduate Student Association (BMEGSA), where he facilitated a workshop for students to interact with recruiters and industry leaders from Moderna and led efforts for a Biomedical Engineering Research Symposium. As BMEGSA treasurer, he secured more than $10,000 in grants for community service efforts, and as outreach chair, he established and expanded the organization’s partnership with Imagination Station, a local K-12 STEM center. As a GradTrack Mentor, he helped students from underrepresented backgrounds prepare and submit graduate school applications. Ball is devoted to helping erase the academic disparities between advantaged and disadvantaged students. He also is a proponent of personalized mentorship, and as a future faculty member, he believes this approach will inspire interdisciplinary collaboration, advocacy for DEI initiatives, and cultural humility. Brendan is also a recipient of the NSF GRFP, NIH T32 Fellowship, and Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate Fellowship.

Research Interests

Systems Biology, Data Science, Alzheimer's Disease