Keynote speaker credits CH&E as catalyst for current success
Data scientist Liyan Liu credits the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology (CH&E) with giving her the education and confidence she needed to get to where she is today.
By Kristen McEwenCurrently working within the Division of Research at Kaiser Foundation Hospitals in San Francisco Bay Area, California, Liu is a specialist in big data, Natural Language Processing (NLP) and machine learning for predictive modelling.
Liu is currently working with artificial intelligence and various computer algorithms to input thousands of variables to predict health outcomes after certain scenarios including predicting survival rates after cancer diagnosis; predicting visual acuity after cataract surgery.
Liu will be talking about her work as one of two keynote speakers for CH&E’s 60th Anniversary event set for the weekend of Oct. 24-26.
Approximately 300 alumni from the community and population health sciences graduate programs and the Public Health & Preventative Medicine residency training programs are invited to celebrate this landmark event for the department.
Visit CH&E’s 60th Anniversary website for more information on this landmark and fun-filled event.
After becoming a medical doctor and achieving her master’s degree in epidemiology in China, Liu moved to Canada in 1988. Drawn in by CH&E’s reputable research program, Liu worked on another master’s degree in epidemiology at the University of Saskatchewan (USask).
“CH&E is very humble and courteous and very generous because at the time, I came with nothing - no English, no confidence,” Liu said. “They really built me up and raised me up.”
“CH&E gave me a solid foundation for my career. The hardworking professors, like Dr. Reeder, instilled a strong work ethics in me,” Liu said.
Liu also worked within the CH&E for ten years before moving onto Health Services Utilization and Research Commission, an arm’s length organization for Saskatchewan Health.
She noted that CH&E was one of the first departments she was aware of to offer a health promotion graduate program for students with access to state-of-the-art research program. It was also one of the first departments to use advanced computer software like SAS in data analyses.
For her master’s degree, Dr. Reeder asked Liu to broaden her field of study by taking a medical sociology class at another college.
“It taught me a life-altering lesson to stay ahead of the game and broaden my horizons in career advancement,” Liu said. “Ten years ago, when natural language processing was in the dawning age, I started taking online courses and applied the technique in my work. Five years ago, I embarked on machine learning,” Liu said.
“CH&E not only taught me professionally, but personally as well,” she added. “They taught me to be a nice person and this has helped me tremendously in my career advancement in the United States.”
Being in a new country, and exploring a new culture, Liu found comfort and comradery with fellow students and staff within the department. She fondly recalled “soup days” within the department where people would cook for the entire floor.
“In my formative years, CH&E professionally, personally and mentally made me a stronger, better and more intelligent person. My 10 years at CH&E is the most life enriching thing I have done in my life. I am profoundly grateful to Drs. Reeder, Tan, Leis, and Fran, Karen, Helene, Judy and all CH&E staff.”