Hi everyone!
My name is Yuan Wang, and I am joining PharmaSafe as a PhD candidate. I completed my Master’s degree in Biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and before that I studied Economics and Medicine, Health, and Society at Vanderbilt University. My background has led me to a strong interest in using quantitative methods and real-world health data to address important questions in public health.
During my PhD, I will be working within the ContraMent project, focusing on hormonal contraceptive use and mental health. I am particularly interested in understanding how these relationships may differ across population groups and over the life course, and how research can help identify and reduce inequalities in women’s health.
Outside of research, I enjoy travelling, culinary work, exploring new restaurants, and hiking. I’m excited to explore Oslo and hopefully pick up some new hobbies like baking along the way! I also do own a cat named Coco who's arriving in Oslo after Christmas.
I am very much looking forward to meeting you all and starting my PhD at PharmaSafe!
Teferi holds a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Oslo (2022), an MPH in Public Health Nutrition from the University of Gondar (2016), and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Mekelle University (2012).
He completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Department of Physical Health and Ageing, where he worked on a project exploring the life-course effects of, and interactions between, family and work in adulthood on the risk of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias and cognitive impairment in older adults. This work drew on the HUNT study and national registries in Norway.
During his PhD, Teferi investigated social inequalities in anthropometric outcomes including obesity — as well as the underlying mechanisms and hypothetical intervention effects among youth in Norway, using the MoBa study and the Medical Birth Registry of Norway.
His expertise includes quantitative data analysis and causal inference methods, including target trial emulation. He has extensive experience working with large and complex datasets, including MoBa and HUNT studies and administrative registries in Norway. His core methodological strengths lie in applying advanced causal inference methods to investigate intervention effects using target trial emulation and causal bounds approaches; examining health inequalities and their determinants; and exploring the mediating mechanisms underlying these disparities through causal mediation analysis.
He looks forward to contributing to research on the safety and effectiveness of vaccination during pregnancy and prophylactic treatment of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) in children, as well as to the SafeTwoTreat Study — further advancing his career in pharmacoepidemiologic research at PharmaSafe, University of Oslo.