Yaning Wu

Yaning Wu

PhD student | storyteller | 🇨🇳🇺🇸🇪🇬🇰🇪🇬🇧

january 22, 2024: a week in the life

2 minute read

Published:

this week

I ran some sensitivity analyses for my meta-analysis this week, which are analyses that confirm or deny the robustness of my main results. I also learned why and how to implement heterogeneity measures, which (as I mentioned last week) give readers an idea of how similar or different studies are within a meta-analysis. They’re a bit of a pain to code, but I suspect the interpretation gains will be worth the effort! I also read, for the first time, about assessing small study effects (reduced in some papers to publication bias, but encompassing a broader set of causes of heterogeneity). These are effects that cause studies with fewer participants to show different results from studies with more participants. Finally, I tried to devise clearer ways to present my mountain of results. That remains a work in progress.

next week

I want to draft my interpretation of these results (probably terribly the first time around) and investigate what they might mean for further analyses. I also want to make a mind map of the disparate areas my subject brings together so that I can better plan future studies. This might include how certain risk factors, behaviours, and demographics relate to one another in the blood donor population.

on the reading list

Quee FA, Peffer K, Ter Braake AD, Van den Hurk K. Cardiovascular benefits for blood donors? A systematic review. Transfus Med Rev. 2022 Jul;36(3):143-151. doi: 10.1016/j.tmrv.2022.04.004.

outside the lab

I attended a few gatherings this week, including a birthday celebration, a student recital, and a meeting in the University’s new-ish West Hub. The latter is a thriving space for collaboration that I want to use more often.

weekly photo

IMG_6934 more of college cat Silly (he sat on me)

about me

I’m Yaning (she/her), a PhD candidate in Public Health and Primary Care at the University of Cambridge. I am working with colleagues in the Blood and Transplant Research Unit, the Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit, and NHS Blood and Transplant (England’s national blood service) to improve the safety and efficiency of voluntary whole blood donation. I’m supervised by the amazing Dr Lois Kim and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research. This is my blog about my journey through this candidature, starting from nine months before my transfer of status. Please feel free to reach out at yw645 [at] cam [dot] ac [dot] uk!

november 16, 2024: a week in the life

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this week

It’s been a week of presentations! On Wednesday, I presented findings from my first primary analyses in an intimate setting and had a great conversation with the attendees. On Thursday, I presented to a larger audience, including senior scientists within the Department of Public Health and Primary Care. I’ve also built on my manuscript draft for that primary analysis, which I hope to share with my supervisor soon. I’ve also spent several hours trying to improve on a proposal for a simulation modelling analysis according to comments from my supervisor. Finally, I’ve been working through final admin procedures for our accepted review paper!

november 9, 2024: a week in the life

2 minute read

Published:

this week

Whew … it’s getting late. It’s almost bedtime and I’m still on my work computer! I would never consider this acceptable normally but have made an exception for this chaotic week. I’ve continued to respond to my supervisor’s comments on my primary analyses, realising that I will need to make substantial changes to the variables used. I’ve also made a dummy dataset that enables me to test my simulation modelling code before I receive the “real” data … though I haven’t done most of that testing yet. And perhaps most importantly, I’ve submitted revisions for our systematic review manuscript, which has now been accepted for publication!!! I hope to share the published paper with you all within the next two weeks.

november 2, 2024: a week in the life

3 minute read

Published:

this week

Time for an apology … I forgot to upload a blog post last week! I have little excuse, except that I had some lovely friends visiting and might have forgotten about this habit amidst the chaos. Anyway, I’m back now, and I come with exciting news! Two reviewers have submitted their comments after I submitted my review manuscript a month ago, and I’ve already begun responding to them. I hope to complete these “minor revisions” (in the journal’s Associate Editor’s words) within a week and move this work closer to publication. During the rest of the week, I’ve been attempting to improve the predictive power of a model I’ve fit within a planned simulation model, revising my thesis draft of my first primary analyses following feedback from my supervisor, conducting a second review of a transfusion-related manuscript, and finalising data access request documents for a near-future (I hope!) project. Things are changing fast, and I’m trying my best to keep up.

october 14, 2024: a week in the life

2 minute read

Published:

this week

I’M BACK! After a period of annual leave from Oct 3-18, I’ve returned to Cambridge and am currently working from my college. In the few days before my travels and the day and a half since, I submitted our review paper for publication, made a lot of slide decks to share proposed ideas with my supervisor, fleshed out a manuscript version of my first primary analysis, and liaised with the undergraduate students who I’ll be leading seminars for in a few weeks :) I kept an eye on emails while away, so I have little to catch up on on that front. I’m still reeling, though, from a pile of outstanding to-dos.