1. Big Data, Analytics, and Modeling at Pitt Public Health
Eleanor Feingold
Professor, Departments of Human Genetics and Biostatistics
Associate Dean for Education
Senior Associate Dean
September, 2016

2. Traditional Strengths
Classical biostatistical methodology
Large clinical trials and population-based epidemiological studies
Statistical genetics

3. Newer Trends
Settings that have never used data much before are discovering it.
Classical scientific datasets are getting bigger and bigger.
People are discovering creative uses for large-scale “full-capture” consumer-type data.
Data-driven models are being embraced as policy tools.
Example:
Collect patient satisfaction data after clinic visits.
Collect 20,000 cases and 20,000 controls and sequence their genomes.
Predict flu outbreaks by real-time monitoring of google searches for “flu symptoms.”
Use FRED to show the effects of different measles vaccination rates.

4. How do these new trends change what we do as quantitative scientists?
Mathematical/statistical methodology not too different (depending on who you ask)
- Sometimes new data types
- Sophisticated data cleaning needed

5. How do these new trends change what we do as quantitative scientists?
2. New skill sets need to be brought in
- Computational issues in managing the data
- Computational issues in processing the data
- Visualization (both design and tech expertise)

6. How do these new trends change what we do as quantitative scientists?
3. Culture change away from inference (testing) and toward discovery (hypothesis generation)

7. Example: Google flu prediction

8. Research Highlights Public Health Dynamics Laboratory
Department of Biostatistics
Genomics
Imaging
Health record data
Social dynamics
Geospatial data

9. Genomics

10. Big Data and the Opioid Epidemic

11. Educational Highlights
Statistical genetics/genomics curriculum
New social dynamics course series
Data analysis internships at local agencies and health plans
Proposed T32
Proposed health analytics MS degree
Proposed genomic bioinformatics MS degree and statistical genetics certificate