Frank Chen

Profile

I am a PhD student in the Faculty of Environment at the University of Leeds. I have broad interests in social science and medicine, such as the nature-versus-nurture question. Having begun my research career in genetics, I expanded my knowledge and skills in AI and data science, before moving into how social norms and public policy shape individual behaviour and population health. I am particularly committed to data-driven approaches that minimise biases in social research.

My PhD project investigates how food behaviours relate to health outcomes, using sales data from retailers and health outcomes from the National Health Service (NHS). This place-based approach reveals inequities and informs targeted interventions. This project sits within the Healthy and Sustainable Places (HASP) Data Service and is supervised by Professor Michelle Morris (School of Food Science & Nutrition) and Professor Nik Lomax (School of Geography).

Alongside this project, I have contributed to research in health data science and health economics with collaborators from Tsinghua University, the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) and the London School of Economics (LSE). I am open to collaborative opportunities in these fields.

Research interests

My research focus lies within health geography, where I explore how the lived environment shapes health outcomes. Health data scientists and economists often overlook contextual factors, which can lead to unobserved heterogeneity and weak causal inference. My aim is to address these challenges using place-based data from HASP and beyond, generating robust evidence for targeted interventions.

Keywords:

• Health Geography
• Health Economics
• Quantitative Methods
• Social Medicine
• Social Prescribing

Qualifications

• MSc
• BSc (Hons)
• PMP