Call for papers- Transatlantic Data Science Workshop

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Stanford University, in conjunction with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Research Councils of the United Kingdom (RCUK) with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), is hosting a Transatlantic Data Science Workshop.

 This two-day workshop will be held on March 1-2, 2016 at the NIH campus in Bethesda, MD. The objectives of this workshop are:

  • To facilitate the development of novel computational approaches to health
  • To guide computer scientists, data scientists, statisticians, computational scientists, and mathematicians in discovering and accessing US and UK health datasets
  • To support early stage researchers in establishing interdisciplinary, international collaborations

The first day of the workshop will be devoted to exploring in-depth six datasets available to US and UK researchers, three housed in the US and funded by NIH and three in the UK and funded by RCUK.

The second day will offer an opportunity for researchers to work in small groups to develop and apply novel computational techniques to the discussed health datasets, and to develop, present, and gather feedback on research concepts that will advance our approaches to and understanding of health problems.

The datasets to be explored in depth are:

  1. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA): https://tcga-data.nci.nih.gov/tcga/tcgaHome2.jsp
  2. Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI): http://adni.loni.usc.edu/about/
  3. Health and Retirement Study (HRS): http://hrsonline.isr.umich.edu/index.php
  4. UK Biobank – http://www.ukbiobank.ac.uk/about-biobank-uk/
  5. Millennium Cohort Study – http://www.cls.ioe.ac.uk/page.aspx?sitesectionid=851
  6. CALIBER – https://www.caliberresearch.org/

Submission:

Two-page submissions are invited from early stage researchers (within 5 years of PhD conferral) in computer science, data science, statistics and/or mathematics. Proposals should describe novel computational approaches and an innovative application to a health/medical problem, employing one or more of the above six named datasets. Special consideration will be given to proposals using more than one of the above named datasets, with novel combinatorial (e.g., novel database research or data linkages) methods.  Proposals may draw upon prior work minimally, but should not propose on-going or published research. Note: researchers do not need any prior experience using the named datasets.

Please include a brief description of the proposer’s background and credentials (less than 1/2 page). Other contributors may be acknowledged but only the lead proposer will be invited to attend the workshop, if selected. Travel and expenses (up to approximately $1300, depending on originating location, for the two-day workshop) will be reimbursed through an NSF grant to Stanford University.

The concept paper is limited to two pages, with 1-inch margins and 10 point Arial font or larger.  Proposers must be within 5 years of PhD conferral.

Please upload you concept paper submission and CV here, and enter your details here. https://sites.google.com/site/usukhealthdata/

Important Dates:

January 20, 2016 (11:59 PM Pacific Time): Vision Papers Due

January 29, 2016: Notification of Acceptance

March 1-2, 2016: Workshop Date