Gun crimes within 1,000 feet of Baltimore schools
A spatial analysis of how many gun crimes happened within 1,000 feet of Baltimore schools in 2018.
Epidemiologist • Public Health Communicator • Coder
Dr. Najera’s Code Repository
Public health, data, teaching tools, and digital experiments.
This site brings together projects at the intersection of epidemiology, public health, GIS, communication, teaching, and coding. Some are practical tools. Some are educational experiments. Some are proof that epidemiologists also end up with too many browser tabs open.
About
Why this site exists
Hi, I’m Dr. Ren, an infectious disease and social epidemiologist with a background in public health, data, technology, and communication. This repository serves as a portfolio of coding-related work, with a focus on projects that help explain, analyze, teach, or explore public health questions.
I am especially interested in tools that make evidence easier to understand and easier to use. That includes data analysis, GIS, educational apps, simulations, and small web projects that turn abstract concepts into something people can actually see and interact with.
Projects
Selected work
Geospatial analysis
Hot spots and cold spots of homicides in Philadelphia
A GIS-focused look at geographic clustering and patterning in homicide data.
Web tools and public health explainers
Measles News Fetcher
A web tool for pulling together recent measles-related reporting and updates.
Vaccine News Fetcher
A focused news tool for monitoring vaccine-related coverage and developments.
Vaccine Fact Generator
A quick way to surface concise vaccine-related facts in an accessible format.
Herd immunity simulation
A mathematical simulation to help show how herd immunity works in practice.
Epidemiology flash cards
A study tool for introductory epidemiology learners who need concepts to stick.
Teaching tools and interactive simulations
Random candy game
An interactive way to introduce inferential statistics through play.
Roulette game simulator
A simple teaching tool for probability, randomness, and risk.
Genetic shift and drift simulation
A quick simulation using examples from literature to show how variation and change can accumulate.
Nipah outbreak choose-your-own-adventure
An interactive game where players try to stop an epidemic of Nipah virus disease. (It's very rough right now. I need to work on it some more.)
Approach
Why coding matters in public health
Coding helps bridge the gap between data and action. It makes it possible to explore patterns, test ideas, build tools, automate repetitive tasks, and create ways for people to understand health information more clearly.
This portfolio reflects that broader goal. The projects here are not just technical exercises. They are attempts to make public health more visible, more understandable, and more useful.
Connect
Elsewhere on the internet
Professional updates, public health work, talks, and the more polished version of networking.
EpidemioLogical
Longer-form writing on public health, epidemiology, communication, and life outside the algorithm.
Medium
Essays, commentary, and writing that sits between analysis, reflection, and public health explanation.