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When she was 3 years old, her engineer father rigged her Barbie up to a computer so she could have on-screen conversations with the doll. And thanks to her father, she learned Morse code at the age of 6.

It was an early education in computers and electronics for Ashley Marshall, who today is on the verge of graduating from ����ԭ�� with both a degree in biology and one in computer science.

Marshall grew up in Springfield, Ohio. Her father, Keith Marshall, is an engineer who develops helicopter motors for LORD Corp., a technology and manufacturing company that supplies products and services to aerospace, defense and other industries.

“He only graduated with an eighth-grade education,” Marshall said of her father. “He didn’t have a lot of money and he just studied his way through engineering and computer science by himself. He’s so inspiring and he’s so hard-working.”

When Marshall was in 10th grade at Northwestern High School, she began taking surveys designed to match skills and interests with careers. The survey results steered her toward health sciences and three different times she was told that optometry was the career for her.

So she enrolled at ����ԭ�� in 2008 and elected to major in biology, with the goal of going on to optometry school.

In 2009, she was taking a class taught by biology professor Dan Krane, Ph.D., who encouraged his students to take another one of his classes — Introduction to Bioinformatics.

Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary field that combines computer science, statistics, mathematics and engineering to study and process biological data. Marshall took the class, did well, and Krane offered her a job at his company while she completed her education.

Krane is one of the world’s foremost DNA experts. He has testified as an expert witness in more than 100 criminal trials in which DNA evidence was presented and was a consultant in the O.J. Simpson trial.

In 2002, he founded Forensic Bioinformatics, a company that reviews and evaluates DNA data for defense attorneys. The company, which uses special software developed by ����ԭ�� to analyze massive amounts of data, receives such requests in as many as 1,000 cases from around the world each year.

“Bioinformatics is a really cool thing,” said Marshall, who is working on a project that involves the variability of machines in DNA analysis. “It’s the melding of the biology world and dealing with information, but in an organized computer fashion. There is lots and lots of data that biologists can produce, but they don’t necessarily know the tools on a computer to process it and find trends.”

Marshall asked Krane if she could do research centered on autoimmune diseases because she suffers from scleroderma, a chronic condition characterized by hardening of the skin. The 24-year-old Marshall currently has scleroderma on her arm, stomach and possibly her lungs.

“They are thinking maybe it’s actually in my heart,” she said. “If it gets too much into your organs, it can harden and you can die. So that’s been my struggle in college.”

Marshall has been on a wild array of various medications and received treatments everywhere from ����ԭ�� Physicians to the Cleveland Clinic.

“It’s been very up and down for me trying to get through school,” she said. “There have been many semesters where I can only take one class.”

Marshall’s escape is yoga, running and music. She began playing the piano at age 3 and can play both right- and left-handed. The flute and saxophone are also in her repertoire.

“And I try to play my ukulele every single day,” she said. “It’s relaxing to me. It’s a nice outlet. It feels good.”

Marshall has added computer science to her major of biology to increase her employability. When she graduates in the next year or so, she will have degrees from both the and with concentrations in bioinformatics.

“I definitely am not going into optometry any more. My world has changed,” she said. “Anything in this field — bioinformatics — would be interesting as long as I can apply biology and my computer science skills.”

Krane says he is delighted that a student of Marshall’s caliber, wide range of interests and work ethic has been available to help with his research program.

“Ashley has played a crucial role in some very high-profile cases, particularly in the United Kingdom,” he said. “It is wonderful that she has been able to bring such favorable exposure to ����ԭ�� on a worldwide stage. The best part is that she is just getting started.”

����ԭ�� is engaged in a that promises to further elevate the school’s prominence by expanding scholarships, attracting more top-flight faculty and supporting construction of state-of-the-art facilities.

Led by Academy Award-winning actor Tom Hanks and Amanda Wright Lane, great grandniece of university namesakes Wilbur and Orville Wright, the campaign has raised more than $107 million so far.

����ԭ�� is a special place, Marshall says, because it changed her life by exposing her to brilliant faculty members like Michael Raymer, associate dean for research and graduate studies, and Krane.

“Meeting him and taking his class was really the turning point I didn’t expect,” she said.