Stella Zhu

I started my training as a dietitian and became a registered dietitian in 2020. After that, I began training as an epidemiologist and have been in the epi field for about 5 years now. I earned my master's degree from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 2023. For menopause research and clinical practice, I got my Menopause Society Certified Practitioner certificate last year, but I've been in the field since 2022. Currently, I work as a full-time epidemiologist for Genesis Research Group, which is a consulting company for pharmaceutical companies. We work with biopharma clients who need medical research but don't have a convenient in-house scientist team, so they outsource the research to us. My typical 9-to-5 involves being in client meetings to understand what the clients' asks are, what medication we're trying to conduct research on, and the health outcomes. I do study design, write research protocols, and draft execution steps for them to conduct medical research. After my 9-to-5 work, I work on my own research and do patient counseling in the dietetic field. Nutrition is my love, so I'm still doing it as my side hustle in my free time. I see patients for weight loss, weight management, menopausal weight changes, and chronic disease management. I chose epidemiology because I'm personally more interested in research, and a clinical dietetic job wouldn't give me as much opportunity in the research field, so epidemiology is where I can extend my passion for research.