About me
Dr. Adrianna Teriakidis
I've spent 25+ years learning about data and how people use it, and I hope to spend 100 more. Equal parts academia and industry, and there are things I like about both. With this site I hope to join the conversation at a moment when so many others are recognising the power of data.
I've studied multiple perspectives on how humans think (psychology, neuroscience, artificial intelligence) and worked in healthcare analytics in the US and Europe. Along the way, I've always been interested in the meta-questions as well - how can we make best use of data, how can it lead us astray, how can we use it to know things.
I'm also a solo parent to twins. I know it is cliché, but it is the hardest thing I'm doing by far. It's been a humbling experience and given me a broader perspective. I hope one day to know everything, but until then, let's continue learning together.
Positions
Technical Services
Epic Bristol, 2021–2026
I was delighted to move back to the UK and I got to learn about healthcare data culture in England, the Netherlands, Finland, and to some extent Norway and Northern Ireland, and go deep into how NHS England operates and the datasets that it collects and publishes. In Europe there is both more data transparency for aggregated data at the government level and more caution around access to the data within each organisation. It's got me thinking about larger questions around who owns the data infrastructure and who should own it.
Epic Intergalactic Headquarters, 2013–2021
This is when I learned about task and project management. Coming from a postdoc I used to read every email when I got it and only really managed one project. Suddenly I was getting hundreds per day, each with little requests buried in them. I had to keep multiple projects going at once, and they couldn't be prioritised against each other. I was surprised that "simple" and broadly adopted beats sophisticated but not used, and I was drawn to areas where there was no playbook. Taking all the bits and synthesizing it into something that makes sense is one of my favourite things to do.
Postdoc in Neuroeconomics
University of Wisconsin - Madison, 2011-2013
I learned to work with human intracranial electrode data, some measuring field potentials and some capturing spiking neurons, and did a lot of logistic regressions to relate them to task behaviours. In this project I really felt the tension of publishing surprising results vs being rigorous with the methods and I felt a lot of pressure to oversell the results. Ultimately though, I left academia because I didn't want to face another many years or precarious contracts and forced moves.
Industrial Placement - Electrophysiology
GlaxoSmithKline, 2004-2005
After my undergrad I wanted to learn more neuroscience so I pursued this placement. I had a great experience, the lab was very well equipped, I got to use 2 electrophys rigs and record from 2 brain slices in each to increase the throughput and it was the first time I got a positive result and then replicated it!
Education
PhD in Neuroinformatics
University of Edinburgh, 2010
Thesis: "Intra-neuronal influence on development of the mammalian neuromuscular junction"
MSc in Neuroinformatics
University of Edinburgh, 2006
with Distinction — Neuroscience & Machine Learning
BSc (Hons) in Artificial Intelligence and Psychology
University of Edinburgh 2004
First Class
CV
For a more traditional CV, see my LinkedIn profile. If you want a fun little break instead, click here.
Contact
Thoughts, feedback, suggestions or collaboration opportunities welcome viae-mail.