Dr Lesley Smith

Profile

I am an Associate Professor of Health Data Science in the Cancer Division at the Leeds Institute of Clinical Trials Research. I joined LICTR as Senior Research Fellow in June 2023. I lead the Data Science portfolio with the LICTR Cancer Division which focusses on developing and validating clinical prediction models and integrating routine healthcare systems data into clinical trials.

I joined the University of Leeds in 2015 as a senior statistician and completed a PhD in 2020 investigating cure and long-term outcomes for children and young adults diagnosed with cancer. Prior to this I was the senior statistician on the Born in Bradford birth cohort study and worked at the Northern and Yorkshire Cancer Registry and Information Service (NYCRIS).

Research interests

I have a background in medical statistics and cancer epidemiology and expertise in working with linked routine healthcare systems data for research. I have extensive experience in research based on large scale, complex electronic health record data, including primary and secondary care data, hospital laboratory data, cancer registrations and clinical trials. I am interested in the development, validation and implementation of clinical prediction and prognostic models and the use of routinely collected healthcare systems data in cancer clinical trials.

Qualifications

• MSc Medical Statistics
• BSc Mathematics and Statistics
• PhD Cancer Epidemiology

Professional memberships

• Member of the Society for Social Medicine and Population Health
• AFHEA

Student education

I am the Deputy Programme Lead and Module Lead for the “Analytic Research” module on the Postgraduate Programme in Health Research.

Research groups and institutes

• Cancer
• Leeds CRUK Clinical Trials Centre
• Leeds Institute of Clinical Trials Research