Jacob S. Zelko

My name is Jacob Scott Zelko! I am currently pursuing my MS in Applied Mathematics at Northeastern University (NEU) and am a trainee of NEU's Roux Institute. Additionally, I am the present Chief of Global Health Informatics at the Brooklyn-based non-profit, the OneFact Foundation. My research career has focused primarily and broadly on population health. In particular, chronic mental illness (i.e. depression, suicidality, and bipolar disorder), social determinants of health and health disparities within intersectional populations, chronic illness, and neurocognitive disabilities. As a convergence of my interests, I am very interested in how we can use mathematical structures (such as categories or topologies) to establish meaningful relationships between non-traditional health data sources to gain greater insights into population health. To bridge these worlds, I have been heavily involved with observational health research methods using "Real World Data" and am an active member of both the OHDSI and Category Theory communities. Finally, I do have vested interests in what I call my "lower priority" research interests. This includes things such as open and reproducible science, knowledge representation and knowledge management, diversity and inclusion efforts within STEAM, domestic extremism (within US contexts), and as a practicing Christian, the intersection of faith communities and science. In the past, I worked for a couple years at Georgia Tech Research Institute in the excellent HEAT Division as a Health Data Analytics and Informatics Researcher headed by Dr. Jon Duke and as a Research Engineer for the Centers for Disease Control. While in my undergrad, I also worked at Emory University's Department of Biomedical Informatics as a Data Information Specialist. I graduated Georgia Institute of Technology with a BS in Biomedical Engineering [also completed coursework in biomedical informatics and medical anthropology] and completed an AS in Engineering Science at Corning Community College.