Welcome to PicnicHealth’s Meet the Team series, where we introduce you to the talented people that are working behind the scenes of PicnicHealth. Today you’ll get to know Sara Snell Taylor, Senior Epidemiologist
As a senior epidemiologist at PicnicHealth, Sara Snell Taylor uses her diverse background to contribute to a healthier future. Her work demonstrates the power of combining scientific expertise, technology, and a strong commitment to well-being for individuals and communities.
In 2014, Sara earned her Master of Science in Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) from the Georgia Institute of Technology, equipping her with a profound understanding of spatial data analysis and interpretation. She went on to achieve her PhD in Biology from the University of North Carolina in 2020.
Since 2019, Sara has been a trailblazer in the world of Real-World Evidence (RWE), demonstrating an unparalleled commitment to unraveling insights from real-world data to inform critical healthcare decisions. Her ability to decipher complex datasets and extract meaningful conclusions showcases her exceptional analytical skills and dedication to improving public health.
Sara provided us a behind-the-scenes look into her work at PicnicHealth:
Tell us a little about what it’s like being an epidemiologist at PicnicHealth. Can you describe your role in three words?
My role is quite cross-functional, so a lot of my day-to-day involves communicating with other teams about how to identify and implement improvements to our products. I also analyze data for patterns and outliers to assess overall quality and generate insights. Finally, when I encounter a problem in a dataset, I determine the root cause and work with other teams to solve it. All in all, my role centers around communication, analysis, and problem-solving.
How does your work as an epidemiologist and skills in data analytics contribute to real-world evidence generation for PinicHealth and our partners?
I spend a lot of time thinking about what questions would be most interesting to answer with our data, as well as the best methods to employ in providing a user-friendly dataset to customers. I work with the data as a typical customer would in order to expose any pain points or any anomalies in the data. Coding has helped me understand our datasets better by visualizing patterns in the data, ultimately leading to better insights for our patients and higher quality data for our customers.
How do you see real-world data improving patient outcomes?
RWD is a relatively new but really critical part of the drug development process. It can be used to aid in early-stage drug discovery, long-term follow up, and is admissible as evidence for regulatory submission. RWD can show how conditions are being managed by physicians in real time. Additionally, RWD can provide large sample sizes of diverse patient populations, allowing for faster, more effective drug development, resulting in more effective treatment options for patients.
In the ever-evolving field of epidemiology, what are some emerging trends or advancements that you find fascinating and believe will shape the future of healthcare?
The potential to get health records in real time is going to revolutionize the way we run studies; now more than ever we are able to answer questions about patient care and treatment patterns for cutting edge new therapies and get faster answers to what outcomes we can expect to see.
What advice would you give to aspiring epidemiologists who are interested in working with real-world data in the health technology sector?
Health technology is constantly advancing, so it is important to stay on top of the newest findings and regulations via literature, conferences, and the news. There are so many directions to take epidemiological training, so find a niche that you are passionate about and chase it!
What's something about working at a startup that surprised you?
The energy at startups is electric; it is really inspiring to get a group of passionate people with similar goals together to work as hard as they can toward a common goal.
What are your top 2 reasons for working at PicnicHealth?
1. The people! The fast-paced and collaborative nature of a startup is such a fun environment to be in, and I work with such a highly talented team.
2. The mission; I love working collectively toward achieving PicnicHealth’s goals of accelerating and improving patient care, and knowing that the work we do results in helping patients receive better treatments and manage their conditions.
To learn more about what it's like working at PicnicHealth, check out our Careers Page!
patients onboarded to platform
medical visits processed
facilities provided medical records
healthcare providers
research programs
published posters and manuscripts
partnerships with top 30 pharma
Discover how PicnicHealth data powered medical research in 2021
New methods to improve the identification of lupus nephritis patients in RWD using narrative text extraction were presented at the American College of Rheumatology Convergence virtual conference.
Ultragenyx and PicnicHealth presented preliminary data at the International Network for Fatty Acid Oxidation Research and Management (INFORM) LC-FAOD conference, showcasing the power of linking medical records to patient reported outcomes to better understand the complexities in LC-FAOD care.
We joined Roche-Genentech and other key researchers to introduce a longitudinal, patient-centric Hemophilia A real-world dataset that features abstraction of data points from medical records at scale and supplementation with patient-reported outcomes at the American Society of Hematology annual meeting.
Also at ASH 2021, Roche-Genentech and our research partners presented new findings looking specifically at mild and moderate hemophilia A patients found in PicnicHealth’s RWD cohort to better understand disease burden and healthcare resource utilization in this historically underrepresented patient group.
This year, experts from PicnicHealth joined podcasts, webisodes, virtual summits and much more to speak to the importance of patient-centric approaches when building complete, deep real-world datasets.
CMO Dan Drozd joined The Evidence Base to discuss how to build and measure data completeness
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BBC Storyworks and Roche featured Noga Leviner and her medical journey in “The power of partnerships”
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CEO and Co-founder Noga Leviner joined our partners Komodo Health to discuss patient-centric RWD in “For the Health of It”
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PicnicHealth experts joined Arsenal Advisors in 3 summits to highlight our research partnerships
(from 13 patients with LC-FAOD)
38% Female
15 providers / patient
7.5 years of data / patient
(from 13 patients with LC-FAOD)
patients onboarded across 19 conditions
medical visits processed
healthcare providers
Facilities provided medical records
Change Champions onboarded
Research programs
published posters and manuscripts
partnerships with top 30 pharma
At ASH 2022, Genentech, a member of the Roche group, and our research partners presented their study examining the epidemiology and bleeding phenotype in females with mild Hemophilia A (HA), a minority group that is poorly characterized, compared with a cohort of males with mild HA.
At EHA 2022, Novartis used PicnicHealth’s real-world data to characterize sickle cell disease and burden of illness in the United States.
Genentech leveraged the FlywheelMS cohort to describe COVID-19 vaccination patterns and COVID-19 outcomes among people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) and in subgroups of pwMS, including by disease-modifying therapy (DMT) status.
We partnered with Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease to help identify flares in Lupus Nephritis patients by combining structured and unstructured medical records with lab data.
Cohort Overview. Understand patient healthcare utilization throughout disease history with ability to probe for meaningful mentions and events.
Sickle cell (SC) is the most common inherited blood disorder in the United States. Red blood cells become rigid and shaped like crescent moons, preventing oxygen from getting to parts of the body. This can cause fatigue, severe pain, organ damage or stroke.
Addition of Narrative Text Abstraction to ICD-Based Abstraction Significantly ImprovesIdentification of Lupus Nephritis in Real-World Data
Join our early breast cancer registry to be counted and share your story with research.
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List the names of all the doctors, hospitals, and other facilities your loved one visits regularly, along with those they have visited in the past. Try to go back as far as you can, striving for at least the last 5-10 years, but do your best. Even if you can’t remember them all, having a strong baseline can help you quickly identify gaps in records.
It is important to make sure that you are fully empowered to make decisions on behalf of your loved one with Alzheimer’s. Your relationship status with the patient may not be enough to legally give you access to your loved one's medical information. It is a good idea to talk to an expert about securing special legal status, such as Power of Attorney (POA), a legal document that allows an individual to name someone as their decision maker should they no longer be able to make decisions on their own.
It’s important to have all of your loved one’s medical records together in one spot. This makes it much easier for you and your loved one’s physicians to accurately map the patient’s medical journey and more easily share information between doctors. Fortunately, tools exist to make record management and access simple. A free resource like PicnicHealth helps you collect and organize all of this information. PicnicHealth’s intuitive timeline allows you to pinpoint data across the medical history, eliminating your need for keeping heavy binders filled with paper records or keeping track of multiple software portal logins.
The better you understand your loved one's medical history, the better you can advocate on their behalf. Access and understanding of this information will help you to ask informed questions with physicians. Through regular communication backed by the data in the medical records, you can help your loved one’s care team develop a more successful care plan.
Learn more about PicnicHealth’s commitment to the Alzheimer’s community and the Alzheimer’s Association
Learn MoreWhen you’re juggling appointment times and insurance claims, putting a robust support system together might not strike you as the most urgent task. Investing the time to cultivate relationships with people can turn to in times of need will pay dividends. The next time you need a last-minute ride or just someone to listen, you won’t be on your own.
There are many condition-specific support groups and support groups for caregivers generally in person or online. In addition to the encouragement and empathy they provide, support groups can be a helpful source of tips, resources, and recommendations for navigating caregiving.
The backbone of effective caregiving is organization. Keep medical information, appointment schedules, and medication lists in order. Use a planner or a digital service like PicnicHealth to stay on top of your responsibilities. This attention to detail can prevent future complications and reduce day-to-day stress.
We’ve seen incredible breakthroughs in treatment over the past couple of years, powered by patients and their caregivers participating in research. Stay in the loop about the latest in medical advancements and available resources that could benefit your loved one. Whether it’s a new therapy option or a community service that aids independence, being informed can make a world of difference in the quality of care you provide.
It may seem self-centered to focus on self-care—but when you feel good, you can be a better caregiver. Whether it’s exercise, a mindfulness practice, a soak in the bath, or just time to rest when you need it, carve out those moments in the day when you can unwind, reset, and stay healthy mentally and physically. Think of it as building up your reserves of kindness, patience, and understanding—which can only benefit your loved one. No one can pour from an empty cup.
Easily manage all of your loved one's medical records and contribute to ongoing Alzheimer's research with PicnicHealth.
Learn More(from 13 patients with LC-FAOD)
38% Female
15 providers / patient
7.5 years of data / patient
(from 13 patients with LC-FAOD)
We hope you found this session informative! Sign up for PicnicHealth’s Alzheimer’s research program below.
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