Author: Drew Bracken, Correspondent at Newark Advocate

Asuman Turkmen, a native of Adana, Turkey, had always maintained an interested in STEM-related fields. After obtaining her Bachelor’s in Mathematics and Master’s in Statistics, she later went on to obtain her PhD in Statistics in the United States. She became a part of Ohio State’s faculty in the Department of Statistics for both campuses in Newark and Columbus.

Dr. Turkmen cites that “Statistics gives you a chance to apply numeric analysis to almost any field you could think of.” She also says that the diversity and fun that the program provides is a result of the collaborations it has. Various fields including medicine, biology, agriculture and politics have an active element of statistics involved which to her, allows the program to remain fresh and exciting.

The research Dr. Turkmen does focuses on applying statistics to see how certain human genomes affect the prevalence of diseases such as autism. Dr. Turkmen also is using her position to be a role model for young women interested in STEM fields. In her words, a role model for them is important to show them that “that they can do it too if they want.”

For the full story written by Drew Bracken, click here.