Meet Noni Anigbo, DATA-CAN’s first intern through the Black Interns Initiative

This summer, DATA-CAN was delighted to welcome Nonyelum (Noni) Anigbo, a pharmacy student at Keele University, as our first intern recruited as part of the 10,000 Black Interns initiative.

As part of the programme, Health Data Research UK (HDR UK) brought together partners in data science, including DATA-CAN, to tackle the underrepresentation of Black people in the sector. The paid internships are providing young Black people with the opportunity to experience a range of careers in health data science.

Watch this short video interview with Noni where she talks about her experience at DATA-CAN and hopes for the future.

Noni decided to apply for an internship because she wanted to learn more about health data science – an area which she hadn’t previously had much exposure to. She added, “I was really thankful for the opportunity to take part as I don’t have many role models in the field of health data science. Programmes like the 10,000 Black Interns Initiative help to give people more opportunities in new work areas and possibly spark an interest for a future career.”

Whilst at DATA-CAN, Noni spent time with the Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) team which she found really enjoyable and enlightening. She completed a project interviewing  members of the PPIE group to focus on improvements that could be made and ways of increasing patient and public retention in PPIE activities. She explains, “Interviewing members of the PPIE group was a real highlight for me. I learnt just how important it is to allow patients and the public a say and feel involved in public health and the use of patient data. Trust is really important and PPIE groups can help to build this. I will take forward what I learnt at DATA-CAN in my future career.”

Noni would recommend others to apply for the Black Interns initiative and said, “Everyone at DATA-CAN was so supportive and willing to help me, and also to learn from me. It’s a great opportunity to meet new people, learn from them and make new connections.”

Find out more about Health Data Research UK’s Black Internship Programme here.