David Bean

David Bean

Biomedical Informatics · Data Science · AI

I'm a data scientist with a Master's in Biomedical Informatics (Data Science and AI emphasis) from the University of Utah, where my research centered on cancer genomics. The pipelines I built took raw DNA sequencing data through to verified somatic mutations, the basis for more personalized cancer treatment. I worked on tumor-only samples, a technically challenging case where there's no matched healthy tissue to compare against, so the mutations a patient was born with have to be filtered out against population databases instead.

Reporting findings clearly matters as much as the rigor behind them. That starts with knowing your audience and giving them a reason to care. A good figure carries ideas that plain language can't reach. I'm an artist outside of work, mostly digital and pyrography, which is how I've developed a design sense that informs every figure I create. Presenting to domain experts taught me precision and rigor in reporting, while teaching taught me how to make complex topics clear and interesting to people outside the field.

Monarch Butterfly Sightings

Each year, monarch butterflies make one of the longest migrations in the insect world — traveling thousands of miles between their overwintering grounds in central Mexico and their summer breeding range across North America. This chart overlays weekly temperature data with reported monarch sightings across four representative years, letting you watch the migration unfold week by week and see how shifting temperatures track with the butterflies' movement north in spring and south in fall.

2002
2007
2012
2017
Press ▶︎ to continue or drag the timeline to explore
←→ step through weeks  ·  ↑↓ jump between years
Year 2002Week 01
v5
Debug
Points: Temperature
3.20
0.45
0.90
0.00
0.30
0.00
Points: Sightings
1.50
1.25
Map
0.90
-93.5
39.0
0.70
dotSize=3.20 latScale=0.45 curve=0.90 shape=hex palette=spectral opacity=0.30 fade=0.00 stroke=#ffffff strokeW=0.00 fillOverride=false fill=#4c78a8 sightShape=circle sightFill=#f6f5f4 sightStroke=#1c71d8 sightStrokeW=1.50 sightSize=1.25 mapScale=0.90 lon=-93.5 lat=39.0 aspect=0.70