Dear Health Data IG Leadership:
I am a PhD student studying Health Outcomes Research at Saint Louis
University with research interests in utilizing social media data for
predicting patient reported outcomes such as Health-related Quality of Life
(HrQoL). HrQoL, a concept that embodies the patients’ perception of their
own health, is a dynamic and robust measure for evaluating disease burden
and the quality of health care overall. Traditionally, these measure are
provided via surveys and are expensive to implement. However, patients
express similar and arguably more detailed information about how they
perceive their health on Social media, a much cheaper and more accessible
potential source of patient reported outcomes. Harnessing the power of
machine learning and natural language processing provides an opportunity to
explore social media data for its ability to reliably predict HrQoL and
much more.
After speaking about this research interest with my mentor, Dr. Leslie
McIntosh, I was introduced to the Data Share Program. My training in
Epidemiology,
Biostatistics, Health Outcomes Research, and Data Science places me in a
unique position to further explore the validity of social media data as a
reliable source of HrQoL information. The Data Share Program Fellowship is
the perfect opportunity for me (with collaboration from researchers across
the world) to examine the advantages, shortcomings, and potential
recommendations for this type of research in addition to working to solve/
discuss some of its inherent problems, such as those relating to bias and
security.
I am optimistic that you are excited about social media data as an option
for making medicine more personalized and patient-centered. I hope that you
find my project to be one that you would like to lend your support.
At your availability, I would like to learn more about this IG and discuss
my proposed project.
I hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,
Lorinette Wirth
—
*Lorinette S. D. Wirth, MPH | **Epidemiology/Biostatistics*
*Doctoral Student | **Public Health Studies – Health Outcomes Research*
*Saint Louis University Center for Outcomes Research (SLUCOR)*
*Saint Louis University*
*Email: ***@***.*** *
Add me on LinkedIn
“To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and
day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any
human being can fight; and never stop fighting.”
ee. cummings
“Just do it!”
Nike