NIH wants your input on their Strategic Plan for Data Science

In their latest Request for Information (RFI) notice, the National Institutes of Health recognize that "data science has increased in importance for biomedical research over the past decade" and they expect this trend will continue; because of this, they have created a draft strategic plan for data science which explains their goals, objectives and implementation tactics to keep the NIH on the cutting edge. The draft plan may be downloaded here: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/rfi/NIH-Strategic-Plan-for-Data-Science.pdf. Responses to this request for information must be received by April 2nd, and submitted electronically to: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/rfi/rfi.cfm?ID=73. Please see the complete RFI notice at https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-18-134.html for more about what questions the NIH wants you, the stakeholder, to answer for them.

Big Data training and symposium

The Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) and Library of Integrated Network-based Cellular Signatures (LINCS) programs, both initiatives of the NIH Common Fund, announce their 2018 Summer Research Training Program in Biomedical Big Data Science. This is a research intensive, ten-week training for undergraduate and graduate students starting June 4, 2018. Applications are due on February 1st. For more information on how to apply, and to see past training fellows and their research projects, see the Training and Outreach page of the BD2K-LINCS website.

BD2K-LINCS also announces the 2018 Data Science Symposium, January 31-February 2, 2018, in sunny Miami, Florida. This year's topic is "Studying Systems Biology by Cellular Perturbations". For more information on the symposium, see their News and Events page.

Office for Human Research Protections to hold community forum

The OHRP is teaming up with Hackensack University Medical Center on April 4-5, 2017 for a conference and community forum on "Big Data, Small Data and the Implications for Human Subject Research". The conference will be held at the Hilton Meadowlands in East Rutherford, NJ. A summary of the event:

Human research increasingly relies on the collection and analysis of data. Big Data uses large data sets that may be analyzed computationally to reveal patterns, trends, and associations. Personalized medicine seeks to identify treatment tailored to the individual patient based on their predicted response or risk of disease; medical decision making, interventions and/or treatment modalities are identified through analysis of data sets. Genomics research has relied on the sharing of genome data since its inception. In all these cases, there are legal, regulatory and ethical implications related to the use of data both alone and in combination with bio-specimens. This conference seeks to create a dialogue that addresses the interception of these implications.

More information about the conference, the hotel and registration links can be found here: http://www.cvent.com/d/yvql9b.