Year Started: 2021
Hometown: Toronto, Canada
What are your areas of interest within population health sciences? The application of statistical methods to physical activity and sedentary behavior.
Interest Statement: I earned my BA degree in Business and Society with specialties in economics and statistics from York University and MS in Biostatistics from University of Illinois in Chicago. I have been working as a biostatistician for the past 15 years. Previously, I worked at Aurora Health Care in Milwaukee in the Aurora Research Institute and Cardiology department as a Senior Biostatistician. Currently, I am working at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the College of Health Sciences as a Research Associate/Biostatistician. My current research interest is in physical activity and sedentary behavior and prevention of chronic conditions.
Having worked in healthcare and health-related research for a long time, I have a strong interested in population health. In particular, I have a strong interest in modifiable health behaviors to prevent or manage negative health outcomes.
In terms of hobbies, I enjoy watching and debating sports, particularly basketball and hockey. Being a person with a strong appreciation for data analytics, I have followed closely the developments in this area for sports and how it has changed the way the sports are played.
What experiences in your life led you to study population health/epidemiology? Prior to the Covid-19 Pandemic, I was not really thinking about pursuing a PhD in Population Health. However, the pandemic gave me a lot of time to think my role and reassess what I can contribute to improving public health and population health. I have been working in medical and academic research for quite some time, but I came to the conclusion that I had more to contribute and perhaps in different roles that I had previously.
Why did you choose UW-Madison for your degree? The talented and well-respected faculty and the rich history of the long-term research projects at UW-Madison were the primary reasons I chose UW-Madison. In addition, the line of research that I would like to pursue in the future is well aligned with the faculty at UW-Madison
What do you hope/plan to do with your degree? After completing my PhD in Population Health, I hope to continue in academia and pursue a research faculty position and develop my own research interest.