Dr. Yenny Webb Vargas, PhD in Biostatistics | Principal Statistical Scientist at Genentech

In this episode, we discuss what led Yenny to pursue her PhD in Biostatistics at Johns Hopkins University, the importance of finding community and support systems to cultivate wellbeing and success, and the impact of her work as a nonclinical biostatistician at Genentech.

Hosted by Brooklyn Arroyo

To connect with Yenny and to learn more about her story, visit her page on the PHutures #100AlumniVoices Project website.

Transcript

Brooklyn Arroyo

Hello everyone, I'm podcast host Brooklyn Arroyo and this is the 100 Alumni Voices Podcast stories that inspire where we explore the personal and professional journeys of a diverse group of 100 doctoral alumni from Johns Hopkins University. Today we're joined by Yenny Webb Vargas, PhD, in Biostatistics say Hi Yenny.

Yenny Webb Vargas

Hi everyone, thank you for having me.

Brooklyn Arroyo

Thank you for coming. We're really excited to be able to hear all of the amazing lessons you've learned throughout life. So, begin and you tell us your whole life story. I just want to know how long has it been since you were a Johns Hopkins student.

Yenny Webb Vargas

It's been 7 years I graduated in 2015.

Brooklyn Arroyo

Wow, OK seven years and I'm sure that many things have happened, but let's start off in the beginning, right? So, what brought you to the Hopkins community in the 1st place? Was this your first choice? You to the doctoral world in general?

Yenny Webb Vargas

Well, let's see. I think for me this is kind of in the middle of the—really like I was an undergraduate in chemistry bacteriology and parasitology from the university. In Mexico, I'm originally from Mexico and I learned many subjects. I love Menology and I love making love analogy and I love cell biology and I love developmental biology and all of it and so, I had envisioned myself like doing lab research and like back then we needed to do a thesis to graduate from undergrad too. And so, I actually ended up spending like a year and a half on my undergraduate thesis. And I wasn't certain about whether I wanted to focus on a narrow on a narrow thing. For like a PhD, I would see other PhD students in the university focusing on a very pointy, very pointy place in science to expand knowledge into that point in space. And so, I didn't know why. What to choose and I was a little scared of like choosing only one thing to study, which is actually not true like I've met many other scientists who like have done any writings and don't look into only one particular place but so right after college I started—my dad was the one like that was like telling me, OK what do you want to study next? Like I know you want to study something else like and I was thinking of maybe even applying to a PhD directly from undergrad and my dad sponsored me and sponsored a trip for me to this different schools around the US and like first research different programs and then visit the schools and see what I would like and Umm after my whole tour I was excited about it. I was excited about like molecular biology on a population level and molecular immunology that's the term and they were different things and I also like to have something more concrete impact on people's health. And so, I was thinking of maybe like thinking more of public health and I visited the Bloomberg School of Public Health Back then. And, but it seemed like it was going to be a little bit tougher to enter directly from undergrad from Mexico, and even throughout all the whole thing I actually ended up having a medical emergency. While I would not like I afterwards I visited Singapore and in Singapore I had a medical emergency and I had to come back home to Mexico and throughout my journey there was a professor who said like in molecular epidemiology, that one of the toughest things is handling the statistics of it. So, you can be strong in stats that would put you in a good position, and so in in my hometown there another university had a program, a Master’s program in applied Statistics and so it's like wait, I'm gonna side. Yeah, do this for now while I get healthy and from there, take it on and so I started on statistics and I loved it. I loved it so much. I love the math of it. I love the application of it. What I would tell people is that like doing this thesis in undergrad, there was a lot of hard work to get the data, but then once you get the data, that's when you learn what happened and so like now as a statistician I would come in right at the place where people like are planning the experiments or have the data and so, for me those are. Like there's too much phone. Like the like if. Somebody else gets to do their hard work. And so, I loved this and I was happy being a study station in a Center for biotechnology in in the university that where I studied the Masters. And but I knew that there were many other methods that I didn't know about and I knew that if I wanted to have a more solid position within the university, I needed to have a PhD. And so, then that's when they said, OK, I'm going to do a PhD in Biostatistics or in statistics statistical Biostatistics. So, I started again, sending out programs and I focus more in the US. My hometown is relatively close to the US, so US was my first point to look at, and so I have. I remember like coming up with like 5 or 6 like programs in different universities and I went to my dad, and my dad was like that's not enough, you need 8. You need to look for more, and like he sponsored everything like he paid for all that the high where the school like there are fees to have your application taken and so he paid for all the fees he paid for like translating my transcripts into English and all of. And so, then I applied to like 8 schools got back. I got accepted from like the two out of those two and one of them was talking. And so, I felt like I won the lottery. Really like I remember, people would ask me like out of all of them that you applied like which ones are your favorite like do you have some that like you’re preferring over others, and I'm like whoever pays for me whoever like give me tuition and pays for my fees. I'm going there. I'm so like I was very lucky to have a full scholarship from the school and also like a stipend and that just enabled it for me and I feel very, very grateful, yeah.

Brooklyn Arroyo

Well, that's an amazing story and I especially love how you decided that even though in the beginning you weren't sure of exactly where you wanted to specialize, you realized why not just skip to the part that I enjoy and. Hone in on that. That's exactly what I think that a lot of us need to learn, and that's why we're going to school is what do I actually enjoy. And let's do that for the rest of my life. So, did you find any parts where you questioned? OK, maybe I don't like statistics or what were those rough patches and. How did you?

Speaker

Get over that.

Yenny Webb Vargas

I come from a chemistry and bio background and so I my math background. It wasn't as strong as some of my friends in my cohort and so I was like, oh my I'm able to finish this, like. The professors like said OK, you need to take all of these math classes, before entering the heavy stats classes and so that I didn't take those hard courses with my cohort I took it with the cohort next. And so, like doing like that period of the first intense classes was very hard on me. I didn't notice in the first couple of months, but I went into actual like deep depression and I and it was hard for me to notice it because there were like so many other fun things happening around. But like I think I was compared to compartmentalizing things that like while I'm here, I'm having fun and everything is awesome. And then when I'm like my mom asked me like, how is school going? I will go like completely like crying and like, oh no it's so hard and I felt like am I actually capable of finishing? And symptoms of depression can be that like when you feel like you don't wanna face the world and so you're like in bed. And like I don't wanna wake up and have to deal with everything and so there was one. There was one time in which like I didn't wake up in time like I woke up very very very late. I missed meeting with my advisor and another person and I got like I still remark about it and I was like Oh no like normally I'm a very responsible person. This is not like me like there's something wrong right now, but I think it was a little difficult like actually like talking about this with the rest of the faculty. I didn't know how much like how I would be perceived by it and so I just like I like I was happy there was a student assistance program I don't know. I think there may have been. Time and I went to the study assistance program and I got directed with a doctor and therapist and so then I had a whole community of people helping me go through this and kind of like actually come out of the depression itself. And I think maybe not everybody would struggle up to that point, but many people like I think in the first in the first years it was a little bit like, we we had an established connections in the cohort yet, and so as we did later on, we would start talking about these things and we. Were like, oh. Wait, you were feeling all so bad like I was feeling like I was like such a loser and like I was feeling like getting all of these things and then they would say that back to me. This thing, and so I think it was a really amazing experience in like having to deal with this high-pressure environment and at the same time have a nurturing and nurturing community around you. Kind of like helping you through it, yes, although I think. Well, like comparing it to the current place where I'm in, I'm at Genentech at Genentech and Genentech is part of Rush and Rush. There's been like in the in the past four or five years, there have been more initiatives of like acknowledging mental health and like campaigns of like. Are you OK? Are you OK? Like it's OK to talk about these things and it's OK to find ways to nourish your Wellness. Like it's OK to take breaks to exercise and it's OK to take breaks to talk to therapist and yeah and so. It's like I, I thought that I had to like hide from others. Like oh no, this is this ability. This is not something we talked about but it's been like acknowledging it and getting help has been has meant the world and like once you find what keeps you happy and healthy, it's a good thing to do. Like maybe it's a good thing, yeah?

Brooklyn Arroyo

Definitely, and. I think. Those skills of learning sort of recognizing ourselves, you know. Oh, my goodness, it's not like me to miss a meeting and being able to recognize that and sort of identify. Yeah, I'm not doing OK, and even though we compartmentalize well and we may be. Doing all these fun. Things sometimes we're still just struggling because it feels like everyone else is 10 steps ahead. And then we find out everyone. Feels that way so.

Yenny Webb Vargas

We find. And I think one of the things, yeah, yeah, yeah, we found community in it and I think one of the things that I was maybe I was afraid of asking for help like there was a teaching assistant there that I could be like at every office hour and asking for help and just like leveling up to that I could take a chance of I could benefit from.

Brooklyn Arroyo

And I feel that so many people for me at least I. Think it is. A relatable experience, and oftentimes we think that it almost invalidates how good of a scholar we are if we have to ask for. Help you know. Questions whether we should be there or not, when in reality asking for help should not. You know, take down any of the success we've already achieved. So, with those experiences and you know you talked about sort of developing a community there within your cohort. Like do you have like memorable moments? In those positive highlights where you really were like, yes, Biostatistics. I could do this for the rest of my life.

Yenny Webb Vargas

There I think I don't remember completely the context, but I was I was talking with friends from the same program and. And I think one of them was feeling a little bit like Oh no, I'm like I'm on the bottom of the barrel like everybody else is doing so much better than me and somebody drew normal distribution on the paper and they were like OK, imagine you're like at the very high end of them. And like you feel like. You're at the. Bottom, but you're still like doing very very very well compared to like the rest of the complete population. Like it's a little distorted view, but it's one of like sweet memories from the program, just like tying it to statistics. And the other, the other thing that popped in my head was there was a big blizzard while I was studying and it was happening I think in March and it just like covered the whole the whole city and classes were canceled and people I don't remember who started it, but someone was like how there's a snow ball fight and then everybody just like walked to the park and we had a big snowball fight. And like just had a blast and what would have been more like oh man, we can't leave or like oh man there's nothing to do we're like we're just kids again having fun.

Brooklyn Arroyo

Yeah, I mean the joy in things, so yes, yes yes, sort of post that experience and everything that you learned within your doctoral experiences. What was your first job after you graduated?

Yenny Webb Vargas

My first job is this job that I still have like I've been I've been promoted but it's the job I still have and that is a as a nonclinical biostatistician and so as a nonclinical biostatistician I helped scientists and engineers design and analyze experiments, testing the bioprocess, the manufacturing process of biologics testing. Well, they're like performing assay validations. Assays are experiments where experiments that are designed to measure things accurately and precisely, and so you can measure different properties of the biologics with them and so I also support, yeah, not only the buyer process itself, but also formulation of biologics and devices development of devices. And so, I'm dealing with cells in cell culture. I'm dealing with proteins in a chromatography experiment like in chromatography runs. For like to purify the protein I'm dealing with. With time series of how the cooking, the grades over time and it's measured by different assays and different ways and also I'm dealing with devices that need to be strong enough to like not open on their own when they're being moved around, but they also need to be. Not super difficult to open from an early and early person to do it and so then you're looking at forces out of these devices. And so, like I, I get a nice variety of questions to look at, data to look at and it's been a really fun ride so far.

Brooklyn Arroyo

Well, I imagine with it being your first job and now your current job that you still maintain, there has to be good things going on so.

Yenny Webb Vargas

Yes, yes yes, it's been fun.

Brooklyn Arroyo

We're going first entering that field, and that job. Did you have a transition period or sort of a difference between what you studied in school and actually applying it to your career?

Yenny Webb Vargas

I'm a little bit because in in in the PhD I worked with like neuroimaging data and so I was, my brain like working towards that kind of data and I was also working with so many epidemiological data and causal inference and like. How do you try to assert causality from observational data, where there are a lot of things that could be comparing together? That's so it's difficult to tease out what's happening, and so I like in in the PhD. My thesis was mostly looking in those places and when I came to Genentech. It was like well. These are cells we can completely randomize things. We can completely determine or experiment so that they're clean and perfect. And so, I was like, oh well, I don't need to, I don't need to think about causality too much anymore. And so, I ended up using other skills and more basic some, sometimes we, it's easier to use simpler tools to kind of have like everybody could easily grasp what we're doing, what comparison we're making, what kind of analysis we're making and so there's like, like the push towards like, yeah, fancy tools from statistics. And then the other like, OK, it's better to sometimes just show the data and do simple features and that's enough to make the point across and so I think we are just we are just being period was more towards like OK how do we have a solid? That's solid, well like, how can we show solid evidence and that we can back up and sometimes that means not necessarily using the Super Mega fancy algorithm that that that other people are have a harder trouble conceptualizing and understanding.

Brooklyn Arroyo

Well, I think that is on the subject of transitions and sort of new worlds. I think it is important for us to talk about and just for the sake of the listeners and diversifying the narratives of those who are in doctoral positions, especially in fields like Biostatistics. Do you feel that? As somebody who went to school lived within Mexico and then went into your doctoral education in the states, was there major changes or culture shocks that you experienced and was it positive or negative thing overall?

Yenny Webb Vargas

Well, I think. It was overall positive. One of the things that, uh, people would ask me about Baltimore like ohh, are you like scared of living in Baltimore? And I'm like no, actually unfortunately, by the time I was doing the PhD, there was a lot of cartel violence in my hometown, and so for me it was like actually then I was like I'm totally fine and I valued the fact that I could I could see that there were still people struggling like the inner-city problems were still there and it wasn't like oh I live in this paradise and everybody else. I don't care and so it was still like helping me keep a little bit more mindful about what what's going on with the rest of the world. With others in my own city that that there's still work to do and so that there wasn't that big of a culture shock. And also, I was very lucky that there was another Latina in my cohort and we became like very very quickly and I love her so much. And so not only that, like we like, at least there was another Latina in the in the program with me and. And like in the School of Public Health, it has such an amazing diversity from all around the world that like there were other Latinos in there too. And so even and back then there was another professor in Biostatistics who was also Latino from Puerto Rico and so they're like, even though it's not like there wasn't like big numbers or whatever, but we I saw diversity, I saw diversity on one end and I saw representation in another end and I never felt out of place really.

Brooklyn Arroyo

Amazing, I think that that is really important to be able to have those communities, and I think several times we've talked about, you know the support systems and how important it is. We have them with your father with those first couple of years within school for Latinos and universities. So, what advice do you have for somebody who may not feel that they have those connections out in front of them and they feel that they have to go find them? Do you have?

Yenny Webb Vargas

Any well in terms of like in like in terms of Latinos, I would say there's a couple of associations that that that that that can help you make those connections. The one that comes to mind right recently is sadness. The Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native American. And they just had a conference and we weren't able to attend myself. But I mean virtual panel later and like it's just like you would be there at AT and science like different like Latinx scientists are all like all them together with students and we like, yeah, this is the work that we're doing. This is the work that you can be doing. Like don't like don't despair and I think in some places it seems like there are few because there may be fewer than others, but they're like they're there and like being a part of these communities can help you like see yourself and sees where you want to go.

Brooklyn Arroyo

OK. Definitely, and that is why it's so important that we are having these interviews and hearing from you and other amazing people within these fields so that we can learn and people can see themselves in the success. So as our final question, we're asking this of everyone, and I think that it's. Really important question and that is what inspires you right now.

Yenny Webb Vargas

At least in the company where I am, there's a lot of people with a lot of passion for what they are doing. We know that there's still a lot of. Those pieces that take a great toll on people and we have seen what the medicines we have worked for have contributed. Or like so for example? And generate campus there. There are posters where they show like they showcase patients that have taken medicines and they have a little bit of blurb about them and so forth like something that the patients had shared with us. And like one of them for example. Because I can help others because you help me or like I used to be in a wheelchair and now I can dance salsa and kinds of things that are like OK what I'm doing is actually making, it's making a difference and having an impact in people's lives and that feels pretty special. And also, another thing that happened during my PhD in Baltimore. I was very lucky to find a religious community that I loved and the religious community it's actually part of our global community, so when I moved to San Francisco, there's another chapter of some here, and so I just picked up like where. But it puts things into a different context, and so I have like the religion that I follow and I have my family and I have work that that I feel like I'm helping people. And as you study, station the. One of the things that gives me a lot of joy is helping others and so many times people are like OK, so just do something. I'm very scared of like this is what I want to do and just like they. I have received so much from them I said like yes, thank you very much like this has helped a lot like the whole the study station. I really enjoyed it and I'm happy I can help others with it like helping my colleagues when they're like, oh, I don't know what to, how to make things of this and actually like making an impact with people. It's amazing.

Brooklyn Arroyo

That is inspiring. Well, even as me somebody who is currently on the pre-Med track the quote that you gave you helped me and now, I can help someone else like that is I think so many of us are striving whether pre–Med or not to have some sort of impact. That that is a beautiful thing. So, thank you so much for coming and having this amazing conversation and I hope to speak. With you again.

Yenny Webb Vargas

Thank you so much for saying it's been great.