Lookin’ at U: Kaeli Samson

Kaeli Samson (right) stands with fellow curling enthusiast and husband Nic Swiercek.

Each Thursday, we randomly feature a medical center employee.

This week, we learn more about:

• Name: Kaeli Samson
• Hometown: Omaha
• No. of years at UNMC: Two (plus two more as a graduate assistant)

Tell us about what you do here at UNMC.

I am a statistician in the UNMC Department of Biostatistics in the College of Public Health. I help researchers across campus with their study design, data collection, data cleaning, analysis, and interpretation/presentation. My favorite part of this job is getting the opportunity to learn about and work on a wide variety of research projects with very talented and collaborative faculty, staff, house officers and students.

Innovation is one of UNMC’s brand values. Tell us of a time you witnessed a person or group work to seek and implement better ideas at UNMC.

I am lucky to be a part of the Graduate Medical Education (GME) Research Collaborative, which consists of a small group of statisticians and is headed by Chandra Are, M.B.B.S., associate dean of GME. Dr. Are formed this group when he discovered there was a need for research resources for house officers working on quality improvement or research projects. Since its inception more than a year ago, we have helped house officers with study design, the Institutional Review Board application process, electronic health records feasibility requests, data collection, data analysis and/or reporting on dozens of projects. If you are a house officer in need of these types of services for a project you are leading, please submit your information to our link on your New Innovations home page.

What is your favorite winter activity?
Curling! I curl on the outdoor rink at UNMC during the winter intramural league as well as indoors at Baxter Arena with the Aksarben Curling Club.

List three things people may not know about you.

• Winter is my favorite season — I know, I’m the worst.
• I try to go see the sandhill crane migration in the spring every year (early April is rumored to be the best time to see it this year).
• My goal is to visit each one of the 61 U.S. National Parks, and so far I have been to a third of them.