Profile

Why? How? These two questions are always on my mind. I try to pay attention to things that I see, hear, feel, taste and smell. Life is full of so many interesting things. One of the best things to do is to share them with other people. Late last year I wondered what would happen if I bought some ginger and tumeric from the shop and put them in the ground. Now I have two tropical plants in my house!

Some people might call me a ‘Jack of all trades’. This means that I do a little bit of a lot of things. For example, aside from growing things, I crocheted myself some gloves because it was a bit cold last winter…

I used to do gymnastics when I was younger then later moved to trampolining. As I got older I started climbing, salsa dancing…

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swing dancing…

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and capoeira

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All this moving around and using my body made me think a lot about physics, chemistry and biology: what is the easiest way to move? what food is best to eat? how do I get more flexible?

I love languages, especially maths. Yep, that’s right, mathematics is a language. It is just another way of talking about something. It is a very useful language and one that almost everyone uses. Maths has helped me understand and get better at baking and cooking, at my sports, at building things, and at growing things.

My other love is music. I play piano, guitar and ukulele. I’m looking forward to learning the saxophone but it is a bit too loud to practice in the small terrace house that I live in 😬

My full job description is Research Fellow in Digital Health and Patient Safety.

Almost everyone will be a patient in a GP or a hospital, at some point. All the people working in healthcare work to help you get better. My job is finding out what makes them do their job well. Of course, you, the patient, are also involved…and your family, and your community, and the government, etc. So, researching patient safety is about figuring out all the ingredients, people and activities needed to keep the healthcare system working at its best.

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Currently, I’m focusing on what digital technology is doing to the healthcare system. Digital technology is anything from phones, to apps, to email, to fancy prediction models. Many people think that technology is always a good thing – always an improvement – but this isn’t the case.

For example, it is great that social media has connected people from around the world. But the social media companies’ main aim is to make you addicted to their apps and websites (that’s how they make money).

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Many people will believe what they see on social media and will use fancy apps that promise health benefits or safety. Where and how you get your health information is a big safety concern.

Apps and websites are easier to see than your doctor…but does that mean we should trust them more?

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A life-work balance is important to me. I see too many people spending loads of time in an office instead of spending it outside or with friends. I make sure every day starts with something fun for me AND with something that is Good for me.

My current job involves writing computer code, talking with doctors and scientists, and writing designing research studies. There is a lot of sitting in front of a computer screen…a lot…

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I’m not good at sitting still so I have an alarm that goes off every 25 minutes. When the alarm goes off, I get up, swing my arms and legs around, and do a handstand for 30 seconds. After 5 minutes, I get straight back to work. I find it easier to focus on my work when I have regular breaks.

I design studies, which means I must think of creative ways to answer questions. Sometimes, this means I need to write computer code to do some calculations or to do some computer simulations.

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My work also involves a lot of talking with people – talking with, not talking to. I work with people to figure out exactly what problem we are trying to solve or what predicament we are trying to cope with. It is usually helpful to be able to speak your thoughts, draw your ideas and write your ideas. Each way of getting your ideas out might give a different solution.