Making Health Happen

Kevin Kurek, MS is a hometown kid from Carson City and attended UNR for undergrad (BS Biology) and his lengthy grad stay completing his MS Finance while teaching Math 96/126 and IS 485/685. Post undergrad Kevin didn’t get into medical school his first time; crushed, he went to pursue his MS in Mathematics during his gap year. During said time he started contract work at the state as a Health Resource Analyst. Kyra Morgan ended up heading the role of Chief Biostatistician midway through his tenure. He still picks her brain and complains about data-related political turmoil in Nevada to this day. He was pursuing his MS in Data Science/Statistics but was offered a job on Wall St which he accepted, and left grad school a semester early. Post Wall St, Kevin opened his own Hedge Fund and also works as a Sr. Machine Learning Engineer at Coinbase. He still credits a large part of his success to his friends at the state (Julia Peek, Don Ariyakumar, James Kuzhippala) who helped start his data-related programming journey. This includes Kyra for telling him an analysis he completed was trash and set the bar high for all his future work. He still remembers walking into the office scared to this day (jokingly).

Kyra Morgan, MS is the Chief Biostatistician for the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services, where she oversees data analytics. This includes technical oversight of more than 50 professional staff. Morgan has 12 years of professional experience building statistical models in the healthcare and biostatistics industry. Prior to her current role, Morgan spent three years in the private sector as the lead data analyst for a commercial health insurance company, Prominence Health Plan, and spent a brief time as the statistician for Washoe County Health District.
 
 Morgan graduated from the University of Nevada Reno in 2010 with her B.S. in mathematics and again in 2016 with her master’s degree in statistics. Throughout her career, she has been recognized for exceptional dedication to her work and community. She was named a Young Distinguished Alumni of the Year in 2016.  Since assuming the role of Chief Biostatistician for DHHS, Morgan has been appointed to several statewide initiatives, including the Governor's Economic Advisory Council and Nevada's COVID-19 Mitigation and Management Task Force in 2020.  In 2021, Morgan was recognized as one of the inaugural Wolf Pack Way alumni.
 
Morgan was born and raised off-grid on a 40-acre homestead in rural Nevada, where she learned the value of hard work.  She currently lives in Carson City with her husband of nearly 15 years and their two young children, Juniper and Dane.  In her free time, she enjoys spending time outside with her family and staying active.

Rebecca Hyde, MPH is a data science manager at Meta Health, where she leads a team focused on improving the health information that users see on products like Facebook and Instagram. Prior to her time at Meta, Rebecca earned a MPH in Epidemiology & Biostatistics from UC Berkeley and a BA in Statistics from Rice University. Rebecca has held a variety of data-related roles throughout her career, performing analytics in the world of finance, machine learning at a tech company, and epidemiological research in the academic sphere. Rebecca enjoys opportunities to mentor others looking to get into the field of data science and regularly volunteers at the San Francisco Job Forum, where she provides advice and guidance to job seekers in the Bay Area.