We’re excited to announce our Copenhagen team is growing! Federica Belmonte has joined the Medical Data Science team in Denmark. 🇩🇰
Federica is a thorough person. She likes to take care of and help others. She says she also adapts easily to different people and situations, both work-related and in her private life.
After graduating high school, Federica went to university to study a combined degree in Economics and Law. It soon became clear that it wasn’t the right match for her. After attending her first statistics class, she made her decision to switch. “I was then a teaching assistant for computer science courses and worked on the newly implemented university data warehouse. Wanting to experience living abroad, I applied for a scholarship in the USA, where I took Finance and Business courses.” Upon returning to Italy, Federica worked at Ernst & Young as an IT consultant, before moving to Germany to work in DG-Statistics at the European Central Bank. “Soon I got interested in the sensory and consumer science area and started a PhD at the Technical University of Denmark, focusing on multivariate statistical analysis and mixed linear models.” After finishing her PhD, Federica worked for years as a statistician in the Danish Cancer Society Research Center in Copenhagen. She acted as a consultant for a variety of different projects, ranging from non-interventional and interventional studies to systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
“I realized that statistics would combine the rigor of math with the messiness of data.”
With this extensive range of interests and experience, one is eager to know what drew Federica to the sciences in the first place? “Well, in high school I was a tutor for a physics class—there the students ran experiments, gathered data, and analyzed them. I’ve always found it fascinating to put things in order and rationalize data. After taking my first statistics class, I realized that statistics would combine the rigor of math with the messiness of data, and that in the end I could apply my competences to whatever field I wanted. I was hooked! The idea has also held in practice: during my career, I’ve been able to shift my focus from IT and security problems to financial instruments, sensometrics and finally to epidemiological research.”
“Everyone’s very friendly, laid back and helpful.”
Versatility is obviously very important to Federica. She confirms that the variety of projects and learning opportunities is something that she thrives with. Because of this, Federica tells us, MedEngine was such a good fit for her. Supporting the pharmaceutical industry in a wide range of services and therapeutic areas makes the work interesting. “I’ve already participated in many observational studies. Even if the statistical methods used are often similar, each project has different challenges and unlocks new types of information, which then turns into personal knowledge. I find this very exciting! Also, very soon in the interviewing process I was impressed by the atmosphere and team spirit at MedEngine. Everyone is very friendly, laid back and helpful. Sure, we work hard—but we also play hard!,” she smirks.
Federica lives in Copenhagen with her family, including her partner, two kids and a Persian cat. She feels that at the moment time for herself is rather limited, but she does enjoy practicing yoga or watching TV shows. She also likes to play basketball but says has had difficulties in finding the right team, day, and time to fit the family’s busy schedule. “I also like to find answers and solutions to problems! For this reason, my closest friends often come to me with questions about almost any topic, ranging from the tax system to travel tips. I am more accurate than Google in finding the most suitable answer”, she claims. “We are now testing my skills against the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT—it’s still to be seen how that goes!”, she laughs.
“Some of my Italian friends think this alone would be a reason enough to get my Italian citizenship revoked!”
Federica really likes traveling, and apart from returning to her native Italy 2–3 times a year, the family also tries to do a trip to a new location every year. “I’m Italian, but also very open to different culinary experiences!” This tends to be somewhat surprising, as sometimes Italians have a reputation of having quite strong food-related opinions: especially about what food item or ingredient combines well with others. “For example, I can easily eat pineapple in my pizza whereas some of my Italian friends think this alone would be a reason enough to get my Italian citizenship revoked”, she laughs hard. “Good thing I also hold a Danish passport then, right?”
Great to have a new teammate with a healthy spirit for adventure! Saluti and a Warm Welcome, Federica!
