What is the Data Science Innovation Lab?

The BD2K Training Coordinating Center is organizing a Data Science Innovation Lab to foster the development of new interdisciplinary teams via a facilitated and mentored format to tackle the challenges associated with the analysis, modeling, and visualization of large-scale data sets associated with the biomedicine of rural health. A more detailed description of the Lab can be found in the document Detailed information on 2019 Innovation Lab. Some exemplar areas of quantitative interest are suggested in the document Quantitative Topics of Expertise Needed and biomedical interest are suggested in the document Biomedical Topics of Expertise Needed.

The Innovation Lab entails participation in an intensive five-day residential workshop facilitating the development of new early-career (post-doc, assistant to newly associate professor level, research and tenure track) biomedical and quantitative investigator teams that will generate multidisciplinary research programs through a real-time and iterative mentoring process. Involving around 30 participants, the Innovation Lab strives to develop new and bold approaches to address challenging questions for topics that could benefit from a fresh or divergent perspective. Prior knowledge of research at this interface is not required; rather, applicants with either quantitative or biomedical expertise who demonstrate their willingness to engage in collaborative multidisciplinary research are highly encouraged to apply.

During the Innovation Lab, professional facilitators assist the participants and accelerate the idea formulation process, while the scientific experts serve as mentors and impartial referees. Working under the guidance of these mentors, participants will form teams during the workshop to develop interdisciplinary projects to solve a data science challenge arising from a biomedical research challenge involving the collection and analysis of rural health biomedical data. The lab will include opportunities for learning about NIH and NSF funding through interaction with program officers. Teams are highly encouraged to develop proposals for submission to funding agencies after the conclusion of the workshop.

People often ask us ‘What is an Innovation Lab? What happens at one? What are the outcomes?’. To provide you with answers to these questions and more, we have produced a book, which provides an overview of our Innovation Lab activities and features the attendees and outcomes from our 2018 event on the mathematics of single cell dynamics.

Meet our 2019 Mentors and Director

Dr. Arlene Chung

Dr. Arlene Chung is the Associate Director of the Program on Health and Clinical Informatics for the UNC School of Medicine. Her research focuses on digital health and applied clinical informatics research to enable patient-centered care and the integration of patient-generated health data and patient-reported outcomes into the electronic health record and into clinical care workflows and processes.

Dr. Arlene Chung
Mentor

Dr. Gerald Denis

Dr. Gerald Denis is an Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine. His research focusses on understanding the fundamental mechanisms of transcriptional control of growth and development, and particularly, how chromatin-based disruptions of the eukaryotic cell cycle can lead to malignancy.

Dr. Gerald Denis
Mentor

Dr. Tyrone Hayes

Dr. Tyrone Hayes is Professor of Integrative Biology in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. His research focuses on the role of steroid hormones in amphibian development and addressesing problems on several levels including ecological, organismal, and molecular questions.

Dr. Tyrone Hayes
Mentor

Dr. Kathy Kim

Dr. Katherine Kim is the Director of Health Innovation Research and an assistant professor with a joint appointment in the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis and the School of Medicine, Department of Public Health. Her research focuses on the use of mobile, social, and distributed systems to improve care coordination, community health, and research. Dr. Kim has over 20 years of experience as a hospital and clinic manager, an entrepreneur and CEO in a venture-funded startup, and in software product development.

Dr. Kathy Kim
Mentor

Dr. Herbert Sauro

Dr. Herbert Sauro is an Associate Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Washington. His research focuses on using mathematics and computation to help understand the dynamics and operation of cellular processes and developing new more reliable approaches to modeling complex systems such that the models can be used with confidence in clinical settings.

Dr. Herbert Sauro
Mentor

Dr. Jack Van Horn

Dr. Jack Van Horn is an Associate Professor of Neurology in Keck School of medicine at the University of Southern California. Dr. Van Horn directs the educational efforts of the institute, including the Neuro Imaging and Informatics (NIIN) master’s program and the Training Coordinating Center (TCC), sponsored by the NIH Big Data to Knowledge initiative. He also studies Traumatic Brain Injury, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and the anatomy and connectivity of the human claustrum.

Dr. Jack Van Horn
Director

Application period has ended. Thank you for your submission.


Early-career investigators from quantitative and biomedical fields are highly encouraged to apply. A broad diversity of backgrounds is welcomed! Women and underrepresented scientific communities are encouraged to apply.


Both quantitative and biomedical researchers should demonstrate their ability to work with researchers from different disciplines. Biomedical researchers should be able to leverage data relevant to the intersection of rural health biomedicine and environmental exposures and have an understanding of the problem space. Quantitative researchers should provide examples of the types of approaches, methods, techniques and the potential to utilize these techniques in diverse research areas related to rural health biomedicine and environmental exposures.


A committee will select approximately 30 applicants to take part in the Lab. Selected participants will have their travel and hotel expenses fully covered by BD2K TCC. Applicants must be willing to commit to stay for the entire duration of the Data Science Innovation Lab.






Questions? Please visit our FAQ page or contact BD2K TCC