Ray Fu

Dr. Rui Fu

PhD, PStat
Pronouns: she/her/elle

Affiliations

Assistant Professor

Cumming School of Medicine, Department of Community Health Sciences

Assistant Professor

Cumming School of Medicine, Department of Oncology

Assistant Professor

Cumming School of Medicine, Department of Surgery

Health Economist

Ohlson Research Initiative

Member

Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute

Member

O'Brien Institute for Public Health

Contact information

Email

rui.fu@ucalgary.ca

Web presence

ResearchGate

LinkedIn

Phone number

office: 587.231.6183

Location

Office: Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre YC091115

Preferred method of communication

Admin Assistant

Marcia Garcia

Email: marcia.garcia@ucalgary.ca

Office: 403.220.2481

Background

Credentials

Professional Statistician (P.Stat), Statistical Society of Canada/Société statistique du Canada,

Educational Background

PhD Health Economics, University of Toronto,

MSc Health Economics, University of Toronto,

Honours BSc Mathematics and Statistics, University of Toronto,

Biography

Dr. Rui (Ray) Fu is an Assistant Professor of Health Economics in the Departments of Community Health Sciences, Surgery, and Oncology at the University of Calgary and is affiliated with the Ohlson Research Initiative, a group dedicated to research in head and neck cancers. Dr. Fu is a health economist with expertise in machine learning, biostatistics, and the economics of AI and emerging digital health technologies. Dr. Fu holds a PhD in Health Economics from the University of Toronto and Professional Statistician accreditation from the Statistical Society of Canada. Prior to joining the University of Calgary in October 2024, she was a postdoctoral fellow in Evaluative Clinical Sciences at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. In June 2026, she became the inaugural recipient of the Early Career Researcher Award in Cancer Biostatistics presented jointly by the CIHR Institute of Cancer Research and the Canadian Society for Epidemiology and Biostatistics (CSEB).

Research

Areas of Research

Health Economics
Applied Econometrics
Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence
Cancer Health Services Research
Head and Neck Cancer
Summary of Research

Dr. Rui Fu’s research focuses on improving cancer care by examining patient outcomes, experiences, and the economic implications of care for patients, healthcare systems, and society. Her work aims to generate evidence to inform healthcare resource allocation, improve care delivery, and support evidence-based decision-making. Drawing on her expertise in advanced quantitative methods, including econometrics and machine learning, she addresses clinically meaningful research questions and translates findings into actionable insights to improve healthcare quality and efficiency. Her emerging research program integrates computational economics, machine learning, and health technology assessment to advance methods for evaluating the value of AI-enabled health technologies, particularly those that continuously learn and adapt over time.

Courses

Course number Course title Semester
MDSC 308 Interdisciplinary Approaches to Research

Publications

  • Surgical quality assurance. Eskander A, Fu R, Enepekides DJ, Wright FC, Irish JC. Stell & Maran’s Head and Neck Surgery and Oncology (6th ed). 10.1201/9781003515227-50. (2024)
  • The intersection of prescription drugs and medical devices: the evaluation and funding challenges of two categories of emerging health technologies. Rodrigues C, Fu R, Ghose T, Yurga E, Nauenberg E. International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care. 10.1017/S0266462324004768. (2024)
  • Primary tumor volume and survival in T3 glottic cancer treated with radiotherapy: a study of the Canadian Head & Neck Collaborative Research Initiative. Malik N, Fu R, Hainc N, Noel C, de Almeida J, Hosni A, Huang SH, Yu E, Dzioba A, Leung A, MacNeil D, Nichols AC, Chakraborty S, Johnson-Obaseki S, Schramm D, Whelan J, Forghani R, Hier MP, Morand G, Sultanem K, Dort J, Lysack J, Matthews W, Nakoneshny S, Gill G, Globerman A, Kerr P, Maralani P, Karam I, Eskander A. JAMA Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery. 149(2): 103-109. 1001/jamaoto.2022.3996. (2023)
  • The protective role of adjuvant radiotherapy in low- and intermediate-grade major salivary gland malignancies: a Canadian Head & Neck Collaborative Research Initiative study. Morand GB, Eskander A, Fu R, de Almeida J, Goldstein D, Noroozi H, Hosni A, Seikaly H, Tabet P, Pyne JM, Matthews TW, Dort J, Nakoneshny S, Christopoulos A, Bahig H, Johnson S, Nichols A, Laxague F, Cecchini M, Du J, Shapiro J, Husain ZA, Dziegielewski PT, Hanubal K, Erovic B, Grasl S, Davis J, Monteiro E, Gete M, Witterick I, Sadeghi N, Richardson K, Shenouda G, Maniakas A, Landry V, Gupta M, Mlynarek AM, Pusztaszeri M, Sultanem K, Hier MP. Cancer. 129(20):3263-3274. 10.1002/cncr.34932. (2023)
  • Cancer incidence detection during multiple waves of COVID-19: the tsunami after the earthquake. Fu R, Sutradhar R, Li Q, Hanna T, Chan KKW, Irish JC, Coburn N, Hallet J, Dare A, Singh S, Parmar A, Earle CC, Lapointe-Shaw L, Krzyzanowska MK, Finelli A, Louie AV, Look Hong NJ, Witterick IJ, Mahar A, Urbach DR, Gomez D, McIsaac DI, Enepekides D, Eskander A. Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. 20(11):1190-1192. (2022)
  • A machine learning approach to identify predictors of frequent vaping and vulnerable Californian youth subgroups. Fu R, Shi J, Chaiton M, Leventhal A, Unger JB, Barrington-Trimis J. Nicotine & Tobacco Research. 24(7):1028-1036. 10.1093/ntr/ntab257. (2022)
  • Inferring causality from observational studies: the role of instrumental variable analysis. Fu R and Kim SJ. Kidney International. 99(6):1303-1308. 10.1016/j.kint.2021.03.018. (2021)

Google Scholar

Research Gate

In the News