Background

Elizabeth Anderson is a PhD student in Quantitative Biomedical Sciences at Dartmouth College, where her research focuses on maternal health and placental biology. Originally from Salt Lake City, Utah, Elizabeth’s path into biomedical research has been shaped by a mix of curiosity, persistence, and a passion for applying quantitative methods to pressing health questions.

Her work zeroes in on the placenta — an organ critical to pregnancy and often overlooked in medical research. She has helped coordinate efforts to digitize whole slide images of placental tissue, from both term deliveries and miscarriages. With meticulous effort, she and a team of EDIT students hand-annotated thousands of villi, building a rich dataset that enabled downstream analysis. Partnering with fellow researcher Gokul, Elizabeth helped uncover significant correlations between placental features and obstetric outcomes.

Joining EDIT AI

Elizabeth first rotated with Dr. Levy in fall 2021, and officially joined the EDIT AI program as a mentor in 2023. Within the Advanced Track, she has focused on pathology, epidemiology, and computer vision, bringing her expertise to guide students in tackling complex biomedical image analysis projects.

Reflecting on the experience, she shares:

“I was so impressed by the energy of the students — it was refreshing to be around so many people who were ready to jump in with both feet.”

Looking Ahead

Elizabeth earned her undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, before moving to Dartmouth for graduate school. Her long-term goal is to continue advancing maternal and child health research, leveraging computational methods to improve diagnostics and outcomes.

Outside the Lab

Outside of research, Elizabeth enjoys cooking, taking long walks, and taking advantage of New England winters to go skiing.

Elizabeth brings precision, creativity, and mentorship to the EDIT AI program, helping students see the connections between data and impact in maternal health research.

More Mentor Profiles coming soon!