Scarlett Kynoch

Current Employer/Organisation Name

NHS England

What have you been doing since leaving Exeter, and what are you doing now?

I joined a graduate scheme at NHS Digital, where I spent a year and a half as a data scientist on a range of projects, and was also a software developer for 6 months on a data platform. NHS Digital then merged into the current NHS England, where I was able to roll off the scheme into a Senior Data Scientist Position.

Why did you choose this career? And what do you enjoy most about your work?

During my neuroscience undergraduate, I undertook an internship with the University of Exeter in collaboration with Public Health England. The aim of this project was to predict park movement during COVID, and create an R Shiny Dashboard. I realised while doing this project how much I loved the problem solving aspect that goes along with coding, as well as the use of visualisations to help tell a story to users of the tool. I have also since enjoyed moving this skillset into a healthcare application, I feel sometimes having a good instinct about the data, can really help when discussing with clinicians about a certain aspect in the data. Plus I also like that my job can have an impact and help improve the lives of individuals across the NHS.

Please tell us if you were a member of any societies, groups or sports clubs?

During my time at Exeter I was a part of Squash and Tennis Society. I also co-foundered a Neuroscience society and was the first president of the society.

What did you enjoy most about your programme and what was the biggest highlight?

I actually really enjoyed a lot of what I was learning in the programme. I felt I had the ability to learn more of the medical sciences knowledge about the anatomy and physiology of the body, I was able to learn both about the biological sciences of the brain, as well as picking up some psychology modules, I also really enjoyed some of the mathematical modules, such as modelling neuroscience behaviour.

What did you most enjoy about studying here?

Exeter is a lovely small city, I enjoyed both the content of the course, the friends I made both inside and outside of the course, and exploring a new city.

Why did you choose to study at Exeter?

While the Neuroscience course was new at Exeter, the content of the course had the exact blend I was looking for in a Neuroscience course. I also later decided to do a masters in Health Data Science at Exeter, and this was a lovely way to upskill in an area that I was finding very interesting.

What skills and experiences have been most useful for your career?

Having the medical knowledge can be really useful with bridging the gap between individuals working in the field, and for us who work with data. It’s not so much about being the expert in the room, but more so being able to translate both mathematical concepts and clinical concepts when making better decisions about the use of our data. Also the statistics learnt on the course was a good foundation to grow from, as well as the more complex modelling course helped to extend my mathematical understanding.

What advice would you give to a current student who wishes to pursue your career?

I would advise taking up a coding project, if possible via an internship, in your choice of dissertation, or even on the side. A lot of AI tools has made coding more accessible, and while for the first stages of learning I would advise against using it, to make sure you are building up the skill, it can be a great tool to help with understanding others code, where the other individual might not have the time to go in-depth explaining what is happening here.

What are your plans for the future?

I have really been enjoying what I do for work, so my immediate plan is to continue working in the area I am, and possibly exploring opportunities for promotions when they arise. At some point in the next 3-5 years I would like to transition across from the technical side into the more managerial side. This is still an area I am assessing and gaining skill into, but I have seen so much value in leaders who have a technical mind, especially when making decisions about technical based products.