Han Chang Chiam

Email: han.chiam@meduniwien.ac.at
ORCID: 0009-0009-6902-6923
Nationality: Malaysia

University background

I obtained my Bachelor's degree in Biological Science from Peking University, China, and my Master's degree in Statistics and Data Science (Biometric track) from KU Leuven, Belgium.

Working experiences

After completing my Bachelor's, I worked as a high school mathematics teacher for two years before moving to Belgium to pursue further academic goals.

With whom I will be working in the next years and which secondments are planned

I will be working with Martin and Franz at the Medical University of Vienna over the next few years, focusing on statistical approaches for utilizing historical data to augment clinical trials. Additionally, I will have secondments with Bayer in Berlin and Smart Data Analysis and Statistics in Utrecht.

My interests

My research interests include Bayesian methods and dynamic models, and I look forward to exploring both static and dynamic borrowing of historical data in a clinical context.

Cora Burgwinkel

Email: cora.burgwinkel@uzh.ch
ORCID: 0009-0002-9173-9531
Nationality: German

University background

I did my bachelor's degree in Cognitive Science and my master in Biostatistics.

Working experiences

During my studies, I worked at the Paul-Ehrlich Institute and the Medical University of Vienna within the EU-Pearl Project, which enhanced research on platform trials.

With whom I will be working in the next years and which secondments are planned

I will be supervised by Prof. Leonhard Held at the University of Zurich and work on outcome reporting bias in clinical trials. My secondments are at the University of Rennes and at METRICS.

My interests

Biostatistics and clinical trials.

Giulia Varvarà

Email: giulia.varvara@univ-rennes.fr
ORCID: 0009-0007-8664-1085
Nationality: Italian

University background

I did my bachelor in Stats&Maths (study track of the Statistical Sciences bachelor focused on the mathematics behind statistics) at the University of Bologna, then I did my Master in Biostatistics (Study track of the Life Science Informatics master) at the University of Helsinki.

Working experiences

During my bachelor I have been a tutor for a couple of courses (Probability and Linear regression in R) at the university of Glasgow, where I did my Erasmsus. During my master I did a 3 months interniship at Cambbio institute at the Hochschule Mannheim in the Mathematics of the genetic information research group, odeveloping a genetic algorithm. After that I worked for 10 months in the Data Science and evolution research group, working on the identification of species factories, and then 4 months in the Computational Biology and Evolution group, working on Generalized Lotka-Volterra models in microbial communities, both at the university of Helsinki. Then I spent one year working in the science centre in Gdynia to organize workshop and events about science communication.

With whom I will be working in the next years and which secondments are planned

I will do my PhD under the supervision of Clara Locher, at the university of Rennes. My secondments are at the university of Zurich and at ECRIN for 6 months each.

My interests

Biostatistics and Clinical Trials. My focus will be in Meta reserach and reproducibility.

Grigorios Papapostolou

Email: grigorios.papapostolou@bih-charite.de
ORCID: 0009-0005-1247-980X
Nationality: Greek

University background

Grigoros has a Bachelor degree in Mathematics with specialization in Applied Mathematics from the University of Crete. Also, he got a MSc in Data Science from International Hellenic University, in which his dissertation focused on with the analysis of hands-on experiments, benchmarking, and assessment of cloud based analytics tools from AWS, Azure and Google Cloud. In addition to the second master's degree related to Web and mobile development, in which he developed a system that helps patients with dermatological conditions during treatment, using state-of-the-art CNN architectures and AWS services. In the last period he is doing his third master's degree in Biomedical Engineering at the university of AUTH, where he specializes in fields related to Bioinformatics and Precision medicine.

Working experiences

Grigoros in recent years he has worked in consulting companies and in start-ups. He has worked at Deloitte as a consultant where one of his main tasks was the creation of technical designs for database architecture and web services for reputable banks in Greece and participating in large-scale projects. Also, he worked in an international Bioinformatics start-up as a software engineer in which develop and maintain core product services related to Biomedical Knowledge Graphs. Lately he worked as a Data Scientist in the eHealth Lab at the Institute of Applied Biosciences, where he worked on projects related to Pharmacovigilance and OHDSI.

With whom I will be working in the next years and which secondments are planned

Grigoros will be part of the Data Privacy Unit team, supervised by Professor Fabian Prasser. He will spend his first and second years on secondments at the pharmaceutical company Bayer and the German Institute of Human Nutrition (Dife), respectively.

My interests

Grigoros, who grew up in a family of musicians, plays the violin and the bouzouki, a traditional Greek instrument. In his spare time, he enjoys gathering with friends to play music and board games. He is also fond of rowing and practicing martial arts.

Mian Haider Ali

Email: haider-ali.mian@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de
ORCID: 0009-0002-5003-9512
Nationality: Pakistani

University background

BS (Hons) Statistics, MSc, Statistics, and MSc Applied Statistical Modelling and Health Informatics (King’s College London).

Working experiences

Research Assistant (2022.10 – 2024.06): Fair Modelling & TDA Lab, Department of Biostatistics and Health Informatics Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London.

With whom I will be working in the next years and which secondments are planned

I will work under the kind supervision of Prof. Dr. Ulrich Mansmann. Moreover, my planned secondments are (1) BAYER, (2) ECRIN, and (3) YODA.

My interests

Biostatistics, Statistical Learning (prediction modelling), Machine Learning (supervised & unsupervised), Classical Statistical Modelling, Clinical Trails, and Survival Analysis.

Jifan Wang

Email: j.wang-7@umcutrecht.nl
ORCID: 0000-0001-9720-8913
Nationality: Chinese

University background

Bachelor of Science in Nutrition, Shanghai Jiao Tong University; Master of Science in Nutritional Epidemiology, Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University; Master of Public Health, School of Medicine at Tufts University.

Working experiences

I first worked as an Associate Researcher at Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University after my graduation. About half a year later, I joined Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University as a Statistical Data Analyst and then was promoted to Biostatistician II in two and half years.

With whom I will be working in the next years and which secondments are planned

I will be working with Assistant Professor Dr. Valentijn de Jong on methodology for cross-design synthesis in the next three years. My planned secondments will be at Meta-research at Stanford, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, and Bayer AG.

My interests

My research interest is to apply statistical methods to nutrition research including clinical trial studies and observational studies. I also enjoy programming and visualizing data.

Ka Hin Tai

Email: ka-hin.tai@univ-rennes.fr
ORCID: 0009-0001-7072-2178
Nationality: British

University background

Bachelor in Chinese Medicine, Master of Sciences in Epidemiology.

Working experiences

Three years as Registered Chinese Medicine Practitioner in Hongkong, one year as Research and Teaching Assistant in Germany.

With whom I will be working in the next years and which secondments are planned

I will be working with Prof. Florian Naudet on the topic “Impact of Clinical Trial Data Sharing” at the University of Rennes, France. A 12-month secondment is planned with Center for Journalology in Ottawa, Canada to deepen my understanding in meta-research.

My interests

My main research interest addresses research data sharing and open sciences, in the hope to bring more rigor and transparency in research. Epidemiology and research design also appeal to me with their power to generate clinically and methodologically sound medical evidence.

Minoo Matbouriahi

Email: minoo.matbouriahi@phd.unipd.it
ORCID: 0009-0000-3389-4379
Nationality: Iranian

University background

Bachelor’s and Master’s in Psychology, University of Tehran, Iran; Research master’s in Clinical & Developmental Psychopathology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Working experiences

In the past years, I have had the chance to work as a researcher in different teams and setups. However, the most recent opportunity was working on various meta-analytic projects under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Pim Cuijpers and Dr. Eirini Karyotaki at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

With whom I will be working in the next years and which secondments are planned

I will be working with Dr. Ioana Alina Cristea at University of Padova in Italy. The goal is to establish the impact that Individual Participant Data Meta-Analyses (IPDMA) have had in the field of mental health. For my first secondment, I will be at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, where I will access the largest collection of mental health IPDMA. My second secondment will be at Yale University, where I will learn more about the Clinical Trials Data Sharing (CTDS) process through the Yale Open Data Access (YODA) Project.

My interests

I have a passion for improving mental health outcomes globally by concentrating on three key areas: 1) prioritizing patient safety and maximizing treatment effects, 2) driving progress in meta-research and promoting transparent data sharing, 3) utilizing technological innovation to bridge the gap between research and clinical application.

Muhammad Riedha

Email: muhammad.riedha@chu-lyon.fr
ORCID: 0000-0002-3143-5870
Nationality: Indonesian

University background

I completed my Bachelor of Medical Science (BMedSci) at the University of Melbourne and obtained a Medical Doctor (MD) degree through the International Class Programme at the University of Indonesia. Later, I earned a Master of Science (MSc) in International Public Health from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.

Working experiences

After completing my master’s degree, I have worked extensively in public health, humanitarian and life sciences. In my recent role, I served as a Global Health Consultant for the Indonesian Ministry of Health’s role in the G20 and ASEAN. Besides that, I worked as the Global Health and Life Sciences Project Manager at an international advising company based in the UK. Before that, I took on several managing roles in medical humanitarian assistance and nutrition and was an associate researcher in maternal and neonatal health.

With whom I will be working in the next years and which secondments are planned

I will work with Evelyne Decullier at the Recherche Epidemiologie Clinique, Hospices Civils de Lyon, to understand the perspectives of patients, the public and stakeholders on data-sharing mechanisms and governance in clinical trials. My first secondment will be at ZB Med in Köln for three months, and the second will be at ECRIN in Paris for six months.

My interests

I am passionate about health research favouring human development, delving deeper into public health policy, engaging the community with science communication, and working interdisciplinary.

Tobechi Obinwanne

Email: tobechi.obinwanne@med.uni-goettingen.de
ORCID: 0000-0002-5391-686X
Nationality: Nigeria

University background

Bachelor’s Degree: B.Tech in Geology from Federal University of Technology Owerri, Nigeria; 1st Master’s Degree: MSc in Business Intelligence and Data Analytics, from University of Limassol; 2nd Master’s Degree: MA in Innovation and Technology Management, from University of Tartu.

Working experiences

In my last employment I worked as a Research Associate, Data and Analytics at the Upper Austria University of Applied Sciences. Before then, I had previously worked as Data Analyst, Business Intelligence Analyst as well as a Business Analyst in different organizations.

With whom I will be working in the next years and which secondments are planned

I shall be working with Prof. Ulrich Sax at the University Medical Center Göttingen, and my secondments shall be at Information Centre for Life Sciences (ZB MED) and German Institute of Human Nutrition (DIfE).

My interests

My research interests are centred are around data analytics and data management. My hobbies and leisure interests are reading, chess, football, exercising and golf.

Yazid Zalai

Email: yazid.zalai@bih-charite.de
ORCID: 0009-0006-0550-5974
Nationality: Moroccan

University background

I hold a master’s degree in computer science with a focus on information systems. My educational background also includes data science, where I have applied machine learning techniques and data analysis throughout my career.

Working experiences

I have two years of experience in data science, with a primary focus on product recommendations and customer retention, particularly through Natural Language Processing (NLP) systems. After spending over a year at a startup, I transitioned to freelancing, where I collaborated closely with R&D teams, contributing to projects from the prototyping stage onward.

With whom I will be working in the next years and which secondments are planned

I am currently working as a Research Fellow at the QUEST Center, part of Ms. Tracey’s team. My current focus is on expanding the ScreenIT pipeline, followed by extending the work to include the CONSORT guidelines. Additionally, I will be undertaking a secondment at SciCrunch Inc, located in San Diego, under the supervision of Ms. Anita Bandrowski.

My interests

In addition to my professional work, I enjoy both watching and playing football, spending relaxing evenings playing video games, and exploring new challenges in data science.