
Dr Lesley Smith (nee Fairley)
- Position: Senior Research Fellow
- Areas of expertise: cancer epidemiology; medical statistics; early cancer diagnosis
- Email: L.F.Smith@leeds.ac.uk
- Location: Level 11 Worsley Building
- Website: Leeds Centre for Personalised Medicine and Health | Googlescholar | Researchgate | ORCID
Profile
I am a senior research fellow in the Leeds Centre for Personalised Medicine and Health working on a programme of research on the early diagnosis of cancer. I initially joined the University of Leeds in March 2015 as a senior statistician working with the Yorkshire Specialist Register of Cancer in Children and Young People and completed a PhD in Jan 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). I have a background in medical statistics and epidemiology, completing an MSc in Medical Statistics in 2002.
Research interests
My current research is focused upon improving the early diagnosis of cancer through a series of implementation and innovation studies. I am interested in the methodological developments in the field of early cancer diagnosis, using electronic health records incorporating biomarkers for population-based research, the statistical methods relating to the analysis of routine health data, and the social determinants of health.
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 contribute to teaching on the MSc in Health Data Analytics.
ESREP supervision
Research groups and institutes
- Cancer Survivor Intelligence Group
- Cancer
- Epidemiology and Biostatistics
- Leeds Institute of Health Sciences