Awards
- Kate Hevner Mueller Outstanding Senior Award - 2021
- Goldwater Scholarship - 2020
Elizabeth Dietrich, from Crown Point, Indiana, has a double major in computer science and mathematics.
Dietrich is interested in biological systems that aren't easily amenable to experimentation in order to gain a better understanding of how to combat human disease. Since the summer before her freshman year, she has worked in several labs at IU, including a computational cancer lab that now works on a COVID-19 model.
Currently, Dietrich works with physics professor Sima Setayeshgar to look at proteins inside a bacterial cell. Together, they create computer models to run simulations quickly to see how proteins are located inside the cell. The research involves partial differential equations as well as computer models, so it combines both of Dietrich's interests.
Dietrich aspires to pursue a Ph.D. in applied mathematics and teach at a university while leading her own research team.