Before coming to the UW, Samia Ali, now a junior majoring in physiology, already knew that she wanted to pursue research. Having previously worked on vaccine awareness projects among refugee communities through King Countys public health program, she was eager to find research opportunities on campus to immerse herself in.

As a freshman entering her first project through the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences (I-LABS), Ali initially felt unsure about how much background knowledge she needed to have but soon found that research is often a process of asking more questions instead of answering.

In her current role, Ali analyzes data from the completion of tasks among infants from different age groups to assess whether altruism is an innate or developed characteristic.

In addition to her involvement with I-LABS, Ali has recently started working on a project oriented around leadership development in trauma patient care through the emergency department at the Harborview Medical Center.

This academic year, Ali has also expanded her research experience by starting her own project that focuses on cardiovascular disease risk factors within Seattles refugee communities, explaining that her personal background led her to pursue this project

Ali is the daughter of Somali refugees. When her parents arrived in the United States, they were, like many Somali refugees escaping war, thrown into survival mode. Ali has long observed how the trauma this community has faced has not been sufficiently addressed and explained that this is what drives her research.

When populations who have experienced increased unaddressed trauma live in areas with food deserts due to the inability to gain employment for various reasons, the risk for poor health is disproportionately greater, Ali said.

Over the past few months, Ali has been developing her research questions and the form in which her research will take place. She also explained the difficulty of finding a mentor who specializes in the type of study she is conducting.

Ali believes that research is vital for all individuals both inside and outside the realm of academia, though the lack of representation in the present state of academic research ensures that research is not serving everyone.

In many research projects, there are very few human subjects of color and that is largely tied to having a limited number of researchers of color, more specifically woman of color, Ali said. What is the result? Data is skewed. And I am just tired of it.

In addition to a lack of representation within studies, Ali further vocalized the lack of representation in research as a field.

There is a clear understanding that research is often very limiting to people from disenfranchised populations, Ali said. For first-generation students of color, finding research is very difficult.

To help students find opportunities, Ali became an undergraduate research leader (URL) and has since found that the experience fuels her own research endeavors. In her role, she shares with fellow undergraduates the importance of research and how it is driven by ones desire to learn, rather than ones area of study or prior experiences before attending college.

I have not only brought more awareness to marginalized populations that research is a possibility, but I have increased my own knowledge regarding how to pursue research in a future career, Ali said. I originally came in just for the sole purpose of showing representation, but it has honestly turned into something greater for me. If I was not a URL, I do not think I would have had the confidence to dive into my own projects.

Reach reporter Jax Morgan at science@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @jaxbmorgan

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Samia Ali explores the intersection of diversity and research - Dailyuw