About

The Art of Science

I’m Dr. Khalid Iqbal, an epidemiologist based in Bremen. My early career took me through nutrition programmes for the World Health Organisation, Nutrition International, the World Food Programme and population-based health status evaluations for EY Ford Rhodes Pakistan and other firms across Pakistan, where I learned what field and study data looks like before anyone cleans it up for a report. That experience shaped how I later approached my doctorate in nutritional epidemiology, and it still shapes how I work now.

Most of my projects involve the same basic problem: someone has data, or needs to collect some, and they need to know what it actually shows. I’ve spent years developing study methodologies and statistical analysis plans, preparing datasets for analysis including biomarker datasets, conducting systematic reviews, and writing up findings for clients and journals. None of that work matters much if the original study design was weak or the data collection was rushed, so that’s usually where I start.

I still think the best epidemiology looks unglamorous from the outside. It’s careful planning, honest and rigorous accounting of what the data can and can’t tell you, and writing conclusions that don’t outrun the evidence.

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