When Anna Mintzer joined Codoxo as an AI R&D intern, she was already passionate about two things: computer science and the power of AI to make real-world change. A rising junior at Johns Hopkins University – where she’s majoring in computer science and minoring in writing seminars – Anna’s curious and analytical mind went into overdrive as she dove into her summer project.
“I’ve always loved learning,” she says. “But what drew me into computer science – and now AI – is problem-solving. The process of trying something, learning from it, and iterating until it works. It makes sense to me.”
Prompting Real Progress
Anna’s core project at Codoxo centered around building synthetic healthcare claims data using large language models (LLMs) to support unit testing, creating realistic examples of both accepted and rejected claims based on specific healthcare payer policies. Because the data is synthetic, it protects patient privacy while enabling effective system testing.
Using AWS and Claude, Anna focused on improving the precision and relevance of model outputs. That meant diving deep into prompt engineering, researching best practices, and iterating until she got high-quality results.
“The outputs I was getting at the beginning versus what I’m producing now – it’s night and day,” she says. “I learned how much power there is in phrasing a prompt the right way.”
She credits a prompt engineering mini-course recommended by a Codoxo team member for helping her uplevel her skills. “It gave me a framework I didn’t have before – like how to structure inputs more intentionally, and how to test changes systematically.”
Mentorship That Matters
Although Anna’s project was largely independent and working 100% remotely, she never felt disconnected from the Codoxo team. During onboarding and company-wide meetings, she met colleagues from across the organization – but her one-on-one interactions stood out as especially motivating and inspiring.
Weekly calls with Bridget Morales, Codoxo’s Manager of Data Science and Anna’s internship supervisor, helped keep her project organized and on track. “Bridget is just fantastic – she communicates very clearly and is also kind. I always knew what was expected of me, and she made sure I had the resources I needed to succeed,” Anna says.
Codoxo data scientist Jean de Traversay helped Anna better understand policy logic and data accuracy. “Jean was so helpful, especially since I didn’t have a background in healthcare policy,” she explains. “Her feedback was specific, actionable, and helped me understand the intricacies I would’ve missed otherwise.”
Dr. Riccardo Baron, Codoxo’s VP of AI, also played an important role in Anna’s journey. A connection through her network, Riccardo has shared many invaluable insights with Anna to help her begin navigating the AI and healthcare landscape. “He’s one of the kindest and most brilliant people I’ve ever met. I feel incredibly lucky our paths crossed.”
Together, these Codoxo mentors helped Anna feel supported and empowered. “My interactions with the team made me genuinely excited to log in each day,” she says. “That kind of culture makes a big difference in how you show up.”
Creativity Beyond the Code
Outside of her internship, Anna flexes her creative thinking in unexpected ways. She’s a poet, a baker known for her challah and brownies, and a hands-on DIYer who builds her own furniture. “I love working with my hands,” she says. “Whether it’s building something physical or writing a poem, it all feeds the part of my brain I use when coding.”
Yoga is another passion that helps her recharge and shift perspectives. “Sometimes the best ideas come when you’re not staring at a screen,” Anna laughs. That balance of technical focus and creative expression is something she hopes to carry into her future work.
Shaping Her AI Future
As her internship winds to a close, Anna reflects on how much she’s grown – and how energized she feels about what comes next. “Every day, I’ve been reading about a model or an application that didn’t exist the week before. It makes you realize how wide open the future is,” she says.
Her coursework in AI and AI ethics has already pushed her to think critically about the social impact of emerging technologies. “There’s a lot of fear around AI, especially in academic circles,” she says. “But being afraid of it limits us. If you approach it with thoughtfulness and responsibility, the potential to do good – especially in healthcare – is enormous.”
That conviction is one reason she’s open to the possibility of a career in healthcare one day, as she’s drawn to environments that are technically rigorous yet collaborative and mission-driven – qualities she found at Codoxo.
“I want to be somewhere where innovative, cutting-edge thinking is encouraged,” she says. “Codoxo’s mission of making healthcare more affordable and effective for everyone aligns perfectly with what excites me most about AI.”