Putting data to work to solve pressing health issues
Interaction was key during a poster session with more than 50 presentations.
(Image: Tommy Leonardi)
The Perelman School of Medicine’s Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics (DBEI) and Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics (CCEB) have held their first-ever Research Day at the Smilow Center for Translational Research.
Harold I. Feldman, DBEI Chair and CCEB Director, kicked off the festivities.
(Image: Tommy Leonardi)
The day reflected the DBEI's work across the full spectrum of population-health science: devising and testing preventive strategies, managing chronic illnesses, and developing personalized treatments for acute illnesses. It also showed the CCEB in action, linking clinical epidemiology and biostatistics within the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Health System, and Penn community.
The event included TED-style talks as three DBEI division directors gave the audience a behind-the-scenes look at their latest research.
First up was Jason Moore, Informatics Division director, who addressed how informaticians help the health system “learn,” yielding continuous improvement and innovation. An example of this is how a machine-learning algorithm can help keep a fetus safe.
Next, J. Richard Landis, Biostatistics Division director, spoke about how biostatisticians work on the frontiers of population-health science, offering a series of case studies. For instance, biostatistics assistant professor Ian Barnett, as part of a psychiatry study team, is working to detect changes in people's mobility, sociability, activities, and sleep to help better predict suicide attempts.
Finally, Stephen Kimmel, Epidemiology Division director, spoke about how, through collaboration, epidemiologists plumb questions that used to be out of reach. For instance: Can social media help us figure out why people stop taking their medications?
These presentations were followed by student and trainee flash talks, a poster session, and finally a talk from Michael V. McConnell, of Verily (formerly Google) Life Sciences and Stanford University, about how smartphones transform medical research. The event showed the vast amount of data that scientists now have at their fingertips and challenged attendees to find ways of putting it to work to help people solve pressing health issues.
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