Name: Srinidhi Koya
Where you are from: Bangalore, India
PhD University: Teesside University
PhD topic area: Mixed-methods exploration of Food and Alcohol Disturbance among adolescent girls in England
Current job title and company: Health Analytics Officer, Khushi Baby
Current location: Bengaluru, India
How would you describe to your granny/granddad what you do for work?
I analyse health data from government sources and provide insights on disease burden and improving health service delivery.
What does a typical day/week look like for you?
Data to Policy Action for major public health programmes and supporting programme reviews.
Delivering policy relevant reports and presentations to the stakeholders.
Improving data quality and capacity building for government officials and frontline workers.
What’s the best thing about your job?
I see a good career path ahead which is daily source of motivation! My workplace is supportive, diverse and values my skillset, which I truly appreciate. I also learn something new every day when working on data analysis and visualisation or even interacting with the field team.
What hard skills does someone need for your job?
Quantitative data analysis and management
Data visualisation
Technical report writing
Presentations for non-scientific audience, government officials and frontline workers
What soft skills does someone need for your job?
Communication- Stakeholder engagement and liaison
People Management
Critical Thinking
Adaptability
Collaboration
Creativity
In 10 years' time, what job/position do you see yourself in?
Health policymaking- hopefully in the advisory team for the Health Departments!
What advice would you give to someone starting out in your industry?
Take the biostatistics classes seriously- you’ll need the skills in the future!
Explore your options during the early career days. This is the time to understand your interests and strengths.
Attend networking sessions and workshops as much as you can.
What advice would you give to someone coming to the end of their PhD?
The final days can be very demotivating. But when I look back now, the PhD experience added to my profile and personality in so many positive ways- a strong skillset, people management, being pragmatic, and instantly spotting typos in documents with all the proofreading I did for my thesis! Hang on there 
How can people reach out to you?
