Big Data Health
Science Center
A University of South Carolina Excellence Initiative, the USC Big Data Health Science
Center (BDHSC) serves as a campus-wide interdisciplinary enterprise that conducts
cutting-edge research and discovery, offers professional development and academic
training, and provides service to the community and industry.
Save the Date: National Big Data Health Science Student Case Competition 2024
The University of South Carolina (USC) Big Data Health Science Center (BDHSC) will hold the fifth National Big Data Health Science Case Competition virtually on January 26–28, 2024. The competition provides enthusiastic teams of graduate and/or senior undergraduate students with the opportunity to apply their knowledge to the analysis of big datasets in healthcare. Registration for the case competition is now open! Team registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis until January 16, 2024.
Now Accepting Applications for the R25 Big Data Health Science Community Scholar Program
The University of South Carolina Big Data Health Science Center is accepting applications from community scholars from various governmental and community organizations for a NIH-funded R25 Big Data Health Science Community Scholar (R25 c-Scholar) program. Over the course of one year, the program will provide the scholars with curriculum-based training, mentoring, and hands-on research experience that complements their current professional roles and better equips them with the necessary knowledge, skills, and competence for big data infectious disease research. Apply by 9/22 for one of four R25 Community Scholar spots.
New Program Trains Community Collaborators to Conduct Big Data Health Science Research
Researchers at the Big Data Health Science Center will use their latest grant – a R25 supplement from the National Institutes of Health – to develop a new program for training community members to use data science in their work. The Community Scholar (R25 c-Scholar) Program will provide data science training and mentored, hands-on research experience to four individuals from various community or governmental organizations. The R25 c-Scholar Program will recruit community members interested in learning how to use big data infectious disease research to improve health outcomes in their communities.
Recent News
New Training Program Preps Underrepresented Minority Students for Careers In Health Data Science
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has awarded approximately $1.6 million to Arnold School faculty to launch a training program aimed at preparing underrepresented minority students to pursue careers in health data science. Based out of the USC Big Data Health Science Center, the project will be led by co-director Xiaoming Li (Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior), Electronic Health Records Core lead Jiajia Zhang (Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics), and co-director Bankole Olatosi (Department of Health Services Policy and Management).
BDHSC Pilot Project Program 2023 Recipients Announced!
The BDHSC continues to support interdisciplinary research collaborations that make use of big data to address important problems in population health, clinical care, and healthcare delivery. The purpose of the BDHSC Pilot Project Program is to stimulate and promote interdisciplinary research in Big Data health sciences by supporting meritorious applications that utilize existing data sources in order to address critical issues related to health behavior, patient care, healthcare delivery, and population health. In its fourth year, the BDHSC awarded nearly $160,000 to 8 investigators from across the USC system. Please click to learn more about the investigators and their research projects.
Now Accepting Applications for the R25 Big Data Analytics Emerging Scholar (e-Scholar) Program for Minority Students
In response to PAR-21-258, “NIAID Research Education Program Advancing the Careers of a Diverse Research Workforce,” the BDHSC was recently awarded its Big Data Analytics Emerging Scholar (e-Scholar) Training Program for underrepresented minority undergraduate students. The training program aims to foster a more diverse research environment at USC and across the state and encourage underrepresented minority undergraduate students to pursue Big Data research in the prevention, treatment, discovery, prediction, and forecasting of HIV, COVID-19, and other infectious, immunologic, and allergic diseases. Application deadline is August 1st, 2023.
USC’s Affiliation with the Atlanta Research Data Center
The University of South Carolina is now an affiliate member of the Atlanta Research Data Center (ARDC), which is a partnership between the U.S. Census Bureau and a consortium of universities. Membership to the center provides USC faculty and students with access to restricted U.S. Census data. Among other benefits, this membership allows USC affiliates access to fine resolution data (e.g., on individuals, specific businesses or firms, and high geographical resolution), otherwise unavailable complete datasets and additional variables, and longitudinal data to track individuals over time.
New study will assess pandemic interruptions to health care for South Carolinians living with HIV
Shan Qiao has been awarded $3.5 million from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to study disruptions to HIV-related care during the COVID-19 pandemic. The associate professor of health promotion, education, and behavior (HPEB) will work with other researchers at the South Carolina SmartState Center for Healthcare Quality (CHQ) and Big Data Health Science Center (BDHSC) to determine how these impacts affect HIV treatment and outcomes as well as inform efforts to build resilient health care systems and communities that can be part of the effective response to any future public health emergencies.
NIH T35 Big Data Health Science in Infectious Diseases Summer Research Program
The USC Big Data Health Science Center (BDHSC) continues to contribute to workforce development through its National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Short-Term Institutional Research Training Grants (T35). The program goes beyond the regular and traditional course of graduate studies by incorporating new courses, seminars, workshops, and collaborative activities during the summer. Please meet our 2023 cohort and learn more about their research interests.
Recent & Upcoming Events
5th Annual National Big Data Health Science Conference 2024
February 2-3, 2024
National Big Data Health Science Student Case Competition 2024
January 26-28, 2024
Big Data Health Science Center Annual Retreat 2023
September 29, 2023
Utilizing Big Spatiotemporal Data to Understand COVID and Its Impact
August 30, 2023
Deadline for R25 Big Data Analytics e-Scholar Program for Minority Students
August 15, 2023
Summer Workshops in Bioinformatics and Data Analytics
June 12 – July 14, 2023
Funding for this conference was made possible (in part) by R13LM014347 from the National Library of Medicine. The views expressed in written conference materials or publications and by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services; nor does mention by trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
The scopes of the projects range from investigating the different ways that COVID-19 impacts people; making better predictions of COVID-19; designing telehealth services and technology innovations for the future; and engaging cutting-edge methods through artificial intelligence, data science, computational methods and statistical modeling.
NIH Grant to Develop Data-driven Strategies in Fighting COVID-19
This two-year grant will support the team’s efforts to develop a database system via REDCap and a mobile application for collating surveillance, clinical, multi-omics and geospatial data on both COVID-19 patients and health workers treating COVID-19 patients in South Carolina.
NSF Award for “Monitoring the Spatial Spread of COVID-19 through the Lens of Human Movement using Big Social Media Data”
Three members of the BDHSC have been awarded $108,717 by the National Science Foundation for their project titled “Monitoring the Spatial Spread of COVID-19 through the Lens of Human Movement using Big Social Media Data.”
Internal COVID-19 Research Grants
The UofSC Office of the Vice President for Research recently announced the recipients of its special internal funding initiative to support COVID-19 research and scholarship. BDHSC is pleased to announce that of the 42 projects funded, BDHSC faculty serve as PI for 10 projects and Co-I for 7 different projects.