Lester Litchfield

Lester Litchfield has a diverse background in data science and analysis. Lester has worked at Volpara Health since 2020, where they have held multiple roles. As the Head of Data Science, their responsibilities include developing and implementing a data strategy, overseeing data platform and infrastructure development, and leading a team of scientists, analysts, and engineers. Prior to this, they were a Data and Science Manager at Volpara Health, where they focused on developing machine learning models and datasets for cancer screening and mammography. One of their notable achievements during this time was the development of a neural network for assessing breast tissue density from mammograms. Before joining Volpara Health, Lester worked at Trade Me from 2014 to 2020. Lester served as the Lead Data Scientist, where they rebuilt the implementation of Google Analytics and trained over 50 employees. Lester also contributed to building up an AB testing culture and conducted Big Data analysis.

Lester Litchfield has a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration degree with majors in Management and Marketing from Victoria University of Wellington, which they obtained from 2002 to 2006. Lester also holds a Graduate Certificate in Data Science from Victoria University of Wellington, which they earned in 2023-2024.

In addition to their formal education, Lester has obtained several certifications. Lester earned a certificate in "AI for Medical Diagnosis" from Coursera in May 2020. Prior to that, they completed the following Coursera certifications: "Mathematics for Machine Learning: Multivariate Calculus" in March 2019, "Mathematics for Machine Learning: Linear Algebra" in October 2018, "Deep Learning Specialization" in February 2018, "Convolutional Neural Networks" in December 2017, "Structuring Machine Learning Projects" in November 2017, "Improving Deep Neural Networks: Hyperparameter tuning, Regularization and Optimization" in October 2017, and "Neural Networks and Deep Learning" in September 2017.

Lester also holds certificates in "Bayesian Statistics: From Concept to Data Analysis" and "Machine Learning" from Coursera Course Certificates, which they obtained in December 2016 and May 2016 respectively. Additionally, they obtained the "Google Analytics Qualified" certification from Google in January 2013.