Member Insight

What sparked your decision to become an epidemiologist?  When I was living in Minneapolis and participating in the CDC Public Health Associate Program, I met several epidemiologists. One thing that stood out to me was how often data about Black communities was being used without engaging with or understanding the lived experiences behind the numbers. That realization pushed me to become an epidemiologist to bring both rigor and relationship to the work, making sure data reflects the people it represents. What do you see as the biggest obstacle facing epidemiologists in the next five years?  Developing new methodologies that can capture the complexity of our social world. We’re increasingly being asked to study intersections — structural racism, climate, economics, behavior — all at once. The challenge will be building approaches that keep up with that complexity without losing clarity or meaning.. Do you have any pets?  Not yet — but I’d love a dog someday. Either a standard schnauzer, a cavapoo, or a golden doodle with a black curly coat. Basically, something friendly and full of personality, the kind of dog that’s simply a joy to come home to. Why did you join SER? What keeps you coming back?  I […]

What sparked your decision to become an epidemiologist?  It really came down to one class in undergrad and my interest in getting an MPH. As a BSPH student at UNC, I was able to take some master’s-level courses at Gillings. One of them was a graduate-level epi course I took as part of my nutrition curriculum—and I loved it. Data analysis felt much more natural to me than working in the lab. I had originally decided on getting an MPH along and a medical degree and decided, focusing in on an MPH in epidemiology and never looked back. Over time, my original goal of becoming a physician shifted toward becoming a PhD-trained epidemiologist where I am about defend my dissertation in November 2025. What do you see as the biggest obstacle facing epidemiologists in the next five years?  One of the biggest challenges ahead is communicating and practicing good science in a world where trust in scientists has crumbled. As public health professionals, I think can do a better job of meeting the public where they are—listening to their concerns and engaging in real dialogue. Sometimes there’s this expectation that “because it’s science,” people will just accept it. Rebuilding trust […]

What sparked your decision to become an epidemiologist?  It really came down to one class in undergrad and my interest in getting an MPH. As a BSPH student at UNC, I was able to take some master’s-level courses at Gillings. One of them was a graduate-level epi course I took as part of my nutrition curriculum—and I loved it. Data analysis felt much more natural to me than working in the lab. I had originally decided on getting an MPH along and a medical degree and decided, focusing in on an MPH in epidemiology and never looked back. Over time, my original goal of becoming a physician shifted toward becoming a PhD-trained epidemiologist where I am about defend my dissertation in November 2025. What do you see as the biggest obstacle facing epidemiologists in the next five years?  One of the biggest challenges ahead is communicating and practicing good science in a world where trust in scientists has crumbled. As public health professionals, I think can do a better job of meeting the public where they are—listening to their concerns and engaging in real dialogue. Sometimes there’s this expectation that “because it’s science,” people will just accept it. Rebuilding trust […]

What sparked your decision to become an epidemiologist? As part of my undergraduate degree requirements in Health Sciences, I took an introductory course in epidemiology. I liked the course generally, but it was when I was preparing my class presentation on the topic of misclassification that I felt the sparks start to fly. Continued research experiences fanned the flame, and the fire was blazing after taking Tim Lash’s ‘Modern Epidemiology’ course, TA’d by Matt Fox, during my MPH degree at Boston University. What do you see as the biggest obstacle facing epidemiologists in the next five years? With an increasing ability to generate and harness data that can improve our understanding of population health comes the question of how we train epidemiologists to navigate this rapidly changing landscape. We need to think carefully about how we train epidemiologists so that they can nimbly apply core epidemiological principles across a wide variety of problem domains, effectively evaluate emerging approaches to data generation, skillfully assess an expanding set of tools and methodologies available to analyze data, and productively collaborate with data and other computational scientists. Do you have any pets? I have three adorable children (3, 6, and 8 years old). 😊 […]

What sparked your decision to become an epidemiologist? I pursued an MPH in epidemiology because I was interested in learning about public health broadly, and I fell in love with epi methods coursework! As a student researcher and data analyst, I then had the opportunity to work with incredible mentors and learn more about social and lifecourse epidemiology, which led me to realize that I wanted to become a social epidemiologist. Do you have any pets? I have a grey house cat with adorable socks named Theo. He loves cuddles and poking holes in my shirts (to be fair, I provoke him). Why did you join SER? What keeps you coming back? I joined SER because my mentor encouraged me to. But I keep coming back because I have found the annual meetings to be incredibly supportive of student work and I very much look forward to hearing about the research being done by the field more broadly.   What advice do you give students who want to become epidemiologists? You can take an epidemiology degree in many different directions, and it can be as interdisciplinary as you’d like it to be. I love that our field spans governmental and […]

What sparked your decision to become an epidemiologist? In college, I was a Biology major and conducted laboratory-based research in infectious diseases. However, having grown up in Nepal, I was always attracted to the idea of global public health, without fully understanding the diversity of career options available in public health. I was fortunate to take an epidemiology class and knew that was exactly my field. I then chose a graduate school where I could get advanced training in both lab-based microbiology/immunology as well as epidemiology, and have since focused on global epidemiology studies that often incorporates lab-based variables (e.g. microbiome, inflammation). What do you see as the biggest obstacle facing epidemiologists in the next five years? While the increasing collaboration between experts from different fields in recent times have been exciting, I think one major challenge will be how to manage these collaborations. For example, in my own research area, there is often collaboration between epidemiologists, clinicians, biostatisticians, lab scientists, and bioinformaticians. The epidemiologist is often at the center of these collaborations yet will have limited expertise in these other fields. The challenge will then be to balance learning new skills (e.g. specific skill sets within these other fields […]

Where is your academic home base?  I have been a faculty member at McGill University since 1990. Given my focus on cancer epidemiology, I have primary and joint appointments in the Department of Oncology and the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health. My interest in cancers associated with human papillomavirus infection has also rewarded me with cross-appointments in ObGyn, Dentistry, and Pathology. McGill is in Montreal, Canada. It is an Ivy-League caliber university. My American colleagues say McGill is the Harvard of the North—Montrealers like to say that Harvard is the McGill of the South. Montreal is one of the nicest cosmopolitan cities you can visit. Canadian in spirit, yet decidedly French at heart, Montreal boasts a cosmopolitan flare that is internationally renowned. Montreal is well known for its quality of life, safe streets, friendly atmosphere, gourmet restaurants, and sidewalk cafes. It hosted major epidemiology events, including the International Epidemiological Association’s World Congress of Epidemiology in 2002 and the 2010 North America Epidemiology Congress. What sparked your decision to become an epidemiologist? I was trained as a microbiologist but always liked epidemiology because it allows me to observe health risks from a population perspective. When I had the opportunity […]

Introduction Hello! My name is Lisha Lin, and I am a PhD candidate in Epidemiologic Science at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. My research area mainly focuses on investigating the intricate interplay between the epigenome at different levels and health risk factors, including social, psychosocial, and neighborhood structure. What sparked your decision to become an epidemiologist? Growing up in a Chinese family with two healthcare workers, I always think about questions logically and enjoy analyzing their inner connection. I was familiar with the hospital’s atmosphere, where diseases and deaths are happening every day. At that time, I wanted to promote health and make fewer people suffer. In college, I chose Preventive Medicine as my major because I liked the concept of finding ways to promote health not only individually but also at a population level. In my fourth year, I studied Epidemiology and was fascinated by different epidemiological methods used to deal with various data types. Therefore, I went to the University of Michigan School of Public Health to further train myself in Epidemiology! What do you see as the biggest obstacle facing epidemiologists in the next five years? Misinformation and lack of trust between scientists and […]