Working Life Blog
Data and Technology.
Solmaz Eradat Oskoui – Data Engineer
During the start of Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, I decided to take a risk and make a career change by joining one of the driver projects for the International Covid-19 Data Alliance (ICODA). During my time on this project, I had the opportunity to work with team members from Aridhia and became aware of the work they are doing in providing trusted research environments (TREs) and federated analytics which enable researchers and data scientists to collaborate, access and share secure data to deliver better patient outcomes. The use of TREs and federated analytics, which are considered as privacy enhancing technologies (PETs), were completely new concepts to me. However, the hands-on knowledge sharing sessions Aridhia provided during my time with the project made me aware of the huge potential PETs will have as a solution in accessing and utilising healthcare data. Aridhia supported the first implementation of a federated network for ICODA which was a huge achievement for the project and laid the foundation for future researchers on the project to consider federated analytics. Since I wanted to continue learning and supporting the company in understanding these technologies, I decided at the end of the project to take a position with Aridhia and have never looked back.
Being part of a forward thinking, open and collaborative culture within Aridhia has presented me with the opportunity to learn from a diverse and multidisciplinary team and support the company: providing the technical tooling to customers who are trying to research and provide answers to some of the biggest life changing medical conditions. Knowing that my role is part of an ecosystem that is supporting the endeavour to better understand medical and healthcare challenges gives me a great sense of satisfaction, and the motivation to keep pushing for the future.
After becoming certified with the European Health Data & Evidence Network (EHDEN), I am currently leading the project for mapping source patient-level data for Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) to the Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership (OMOP) Common Data Model. A key outcome from this project will be to support the organisation and standardisation of medical terms to enable consistent analytics. In the future, this standardised database will become part of the EHDEN federated network. I have also recently been given the opportunity to write a publication for the International Journal of Medical Informatics on the application of federated analytics in health data for reducing risks involved in data sharing.
Everyone in the company I have worked with has been welcoming, friendly, supportive and has created an open culture for all to share their ideas. Personal development is very important in the company, and adequate time and financial budget is allocated to team members for learning and growth (I am currently learning the fundamentals of Microsoft Azure to better support our customers). I have always wanted to work for a company that is trying to make an impact using technology in the healthcare sector and the work Aridhia is doing with its customers in helping to answer some of the biggest healthcare problems is what makes the company an extremely rewarding place to work.