Yi Lu

Why did you choose to come to Leeds University to study the above course?

I have a biochemistry background, but I am also very interested in statistics. This course is like the perfect combination which involves all the topics that I am interested in. Also, I like the course arrangement which not only focuses on epidemiology, but also focuses on methodology parts, which is very fun to further dig into.

What did you enjoy about your course?

Firstly, must be all the lectures, especially some wonderful professors. The way they deliver the knowledge is very passionate and easy to be accept. Secondly, I learned a lot about causal inference ideas, which is not a widely accepted approach in industry – its very challenging but worth learning. Last but not least, I met plenty of great classmates, we helped each other and went through all the difficulties togther in the whole year.

What have been the highlights of the course?

As I mentioned, that must be casual inference and DAG. I never heard those ideas before, they are so fresh to me, and super challenging, but truly worth exploring, although, they may not that easy to apply in real life, but in academic field, they are so advanced.

 What was your greatest challenge throughout your course?

As an international student who does not have a maths or statistics background, the language and logical way of thinking were the greatest challenge, especially writing assignments and dissertations.

What is your research project on and what has it involved?

My research project is to investigate the causal relationship between medication adherence and health related quality of life among patients who had myocardial infarction. It involved the causal inference approach, and I used DAG to demonstrated the causal framework.

How do you think doing a research project has benefited/will benefit you in the future?

The research project is very useful, as it trained me how to think independently, and develop problem solving skills. I learnt teamwork with my supervisor and communication skills. It is not pure methodology, very related to real life and I used patient’s data, therefore, it is more like a real world task. Also, my coding skills improved a lot.

How would you rate the facilities available to you throughout your final year project? How have these enhanced your experience?

I mean so far everything is great, I got all I needed. Library, laptop with all the software that I needed.

About the University

Why did you choose the University of Leeds?

University of Leeds is my dream university since I was an undergraduate, not only because it is a world-famous university that has a high reputation, but also because that the campus is so beautiful and the facilities is very great, very powerful research team.

What have been the highlights of your time at the University of Leeds?

Spring time is the most wonderful time, all the flowers bloom, the entire campus turned into the ocean of cherry blossoms. Also union always have different kind of events that allow us to enjoy different kind of life here.

How have the facilities (libraries/labs etc.) helped you get the most out of your degree?

Libraries, I would say I spend most of my time here in in the Health Sciences Library. Its very convenient, in our own building, very quite and staff are nice and helpful. Good place for study.

Have you joined any student societies/sports clubs at the university? If so, how has this enhanced your time at the University?

I am a little bit anti-social, therefore I did not join any club here, but I love the dog therapy in union, I used to go there and play with the dogs.

What key aspects of your experience of Leeds would you highlight to students thinking about coming do the same course?

The LIDA group is very powerful, they teach the most advance ideas in epidemiology, like I mentioned before - causal inference.

What are your ambitions for the future? Do you have specific career plans? Has the University (careers centre/lecturers etc.) helped you with these goals in any way?

I want to find a job in data analytics for sure, this year let me have great passion on this.

Read more about our other recent health data analytics, epidemiology and biostatistics students: