St. Louis Character: Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly connects his passion for medicine with his love of data - St. Louis Business Journal ( orig from Lebanon)

Ziyad Al-Aly grew up in a small town in northern Lebanon, learning how to code and create screensavers on his computer.

"In the '80s, you know, a screensaver was a big deal," he said.

Al-Aly, now a clinical epidemiologist at Washington University who treats patients within the Veterans Affairs (VA) St. Louis Health Care System, thought he would become a computer programmer. He was part of a computer club, he was learning how to write codes, and he loved it. But when his father became sick with cancer, his perspective changed. He decided to go into medicine.

Read more here.