I'm so excited to be back with the data science community at rstudio::conf! Data science is a field that touches nearly every part of our modern lives - from the shows we watch, to our jobs, to the economy, to sports and entertainment. Moreover, modern technologies like cloud computing and access to increasing volumes of data have opened the door to incredible new opportunities for those with data skill. RLadies, Bioconductor, Data Carpentry, and RStudio have also done an incredible job of creating a supportive community for these new data scientists to flourish. But not everyone gets equal access to the training that can pull them into this field.
In this talk I will describe a collaborative effort to build DataTrail - a data science program created in partnership with local non-profits in Baltimore that seeks to spread awareness, knowledge, and opportunities into historically under-resourced and under-served communities. I will highlight the incredible work of the partners who made this training program possible, show examples of the achievements of DataTrail participants, discuss successes and challenges with the program, and talk about the rewards of being a part of community-based data science education. Finally, I will highlight opportunities to be a part of our DataTrail community or build a new DataTrail in yours.
Jeff is Chief Data Officer, Vice President, and J Orin Edson Foundation Chair of Biostatistics at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. Previously, he was a professor of Biostatistics and Oncology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and co-director of the Johns Hopkins Data Science Lab. His group develops statistical methods, software, data resources, and data analyses that help people make sense of massive-scale genomic and biomedical data.
As the co-director of the Johns Hopkins Data Science Lab Jeff helped to develop massive online open programs that have enrolled more than 8 million individuals and partnered with community-based non-profits to use data science education for economic and public health development.
Jeff is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association and a recipient of the Mortimer Spiegelman Award and Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies Presidential Award.
