Babcock University alum Blessing Austin-Gabriel shines in data science

Blessing Austin-Gabriel, a distinguished Babcock University alumnus, is making waves in the field of data science, earning top academic honors and excelling in his professional career at Johnson & Johnson. His remarkable journey from Babcock University in Nigeria to Montclair State University (MSU) in the United States has been one of dedication, excellence, and transformative impact.

Austin-Gabriel completed his Bachelor of Science (Honors) in Computer Science at Babcock University in June 2022, where he graduated with an impressive Cumulative GPA of 4.3/5.0. His stellar academic performance earned him a spot on the Dean’s List in Fall 2021, setting the stage for even greater accomplishments in the future.

Building on this strong foundation, Austin-Gabriel pursued a Master of Science in Data Science at MSU in Montclair, New Jersey, where he excelled with a remarkable CGPA of 3.9 out of 4.0. His academic excellence earned him induction into the Alpha Epsilon Lambda Honor Society, which recognizes the top 10% of graduate and professional students. This achievement highlights Austin-Gabriel’s deep commitment to academic excellence and his drive to succeed in the competitive world of data science.

Today, Austin-Gabriel serves as a Data Science Specialist at Johnson & Johnson’s Research & Development (R&D) division in Raritan, NJ, where he has quickly made his mark. His innovative contributions in data science have led to significant improvements in patient retention and operational efficiency within the company. Austin-Gabriel’s ability to apply complex data models to real-world problems has already made him an invaluable asset to the healthcare giant.

Among his achievements, Austin-Gabriel led a groundbreaking project where he applied an ensemble of 8 machine learning models in R to analyze over 2TB of patient data. His work identified key metrics that drive patient retention, leading to a 20% increase in retention for two drug therapies. This remarkable achievement is a testament to Austin-Gabriel’s ability to harness the power of data science to enhance patient outcomes and optimize healthcare delivery.

Austin-Gabriel has also collaborated closely with the quality assurance team at Johnson & Johnson on natural language processing (NLP) tasks. By using advanced BERT models for generic topic modeling and causal inference, he has helped improve the company’s go-to-market strategies. These enhancements ensure that the company’s products are better aligned with patient needs, demonstrating Austin-Gabriel’s ability to bridge the gap between technical data science and business strategy.

Austin-Gabriel’s work at Johnson & Johnson also includes significant improvements to the company’s data operations. He engineered ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) pipelines using cloud services such as Azure and AWS S3, automating daily data updates to ensure real-time analysis. This solution has significantly streamlined the company’s data flow and reporting capabilities, enabling more informed decision-making at every level of the organization.

Moreover, Austin-Gabriel has been instrumental in enhancing the company’s development processes. He created unit testing suites in Jenkins using Python to automate tests, thereby streamlining the continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) process. This innovation not only improves the quality of software produced but also accelerates the pace of development, ensuring that Johnson & Johnson remains at the cutting edge of healthcare innovation.

In addition to his technical expertise, Austin-Gabriel has demonstrated strong leadership and communication skills. He regularly presents his findings to the patient experience and complaints team, where he authorizes executive summaries that highlight key retention drivers. His insights help inform the strategic distribution of resources to patients, ultimately improving patient satisfaction and retention. Austin-Gabriel’s ability to turn complex data into actionable insights is one of the reasons for his rapid success at Johnson & Johnson.

Reflecting on his journey, Austin-Gabriel credits his success to the solid academic foundation he built at Babcock University and MSU, along with the unwavering support of mentors and colleagues. “I am grateful for the experiences I had at Babcock University and MSU,” Austin-Gabriel shared. “They equipped me with the knowledge and skills to tackle real-world problems with data science. At Johnson & Johnson, I am excited to contribute to innovations that improve patient outcomes and create a lasting impact in healthcare.”

Austin-Gabriel’s path from a top-performing student at Babcock University to a rising star in the data science field at one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies is a testament to his hard work, intellectual curiosity, and passion for making a difference. His success story serves as an inspiration to others who aspire to pursue careers in science, technology, and healthcare, demonstrating that with dedication and determination, one can make a profound impact on the world.

With his combination of technical expertise, academic excellence, and passion for improving healthcare, Blessing Austin-Gabriel is poised to continue making significant contributions to the world of data science. His journey serves as an inspiration to students and professionals alike, showing the power of hard work, dedication, and the pursuit of knowledge. As Austin-Gabriel continues to grow in his career, his potential to reshape the healthcare industry through data science is limitless.