R for the Rest of Us Podcast Episode 25: Robert Smith

In this episode, I chat with Robert Smith, a health economist and co-founder of Dark Peak Analytics. Rob shares his unique career path from academia to advising the UK government during the COVID-19 pandemic, where he helped shape public health decisions through data modeling.

We also discuss his work with Parkrun, a free community running event, and how data science can be used to promote equitable access to fitness. Using R, Rob and his team analyzed participation trends and developed models to help Parkrun expand into underserved areas.

Watch the conversation on YouTube.

Important resources mentioned:

• Dark Peak Analytics

• Academic Papers:
  https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/5-9
  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0033350620304066
  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1353829221001222
  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12889-024-20420-0
  https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/19004143v1.full.pdf

• Map: https://iolmap.shinyapps.io/parkrun/

• Parkrun

Connect with Robert on:

LinkedIn: Robert Smith 

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