Big Data Health Science Center

The University of South Carolina Big Data Health Science Center (BDHSC), an USC Excellence Initiative, 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.

The 5th National Big Data Health Science Student Case Competition Winners Announced!

A team from the University of South Carolina won the $5,000 first place prize in the 5th National Big Data Health Science Student Case Competition, which focused on developing an efficient method to classify unlabeled electroencephalogram (EEG) sleep data and deploying a machine learning model to address chronic sleep disorders.  The 5th National Big Data Health Science Case Competition was held virtually on January 26 – 28, 2024. In its fifth year, it has featured 30 teams from 18 universities in the US. The National Big Data Health Science Case Competition has been held by the University of South Carolina Big Data Health Science Center (BDHSC) since 2020. It took place before the BDHSC’s other signature event, the National Annual Big Data Health Science Conference.

Call for Applications | Big Data Health Science Fellow Program

Supported by NIAID (R25AI164581-03), the USC Big Data Health Science Center (BDHSC) has been implementing a Big Data Health Science Fellow (“Big Data Fellow”) program since 2021. The program provides courses for competency and skills development in BDS research, engages fellows in hands-on research and proposal development, and offers rich mentoring experience in BDS research and professional development. The program recruits at least 4 USC junior faculty per year and provide them with salary support (25%) to participate in the training program. Please click to see the call for applications to the 2024–2025 Big Data Health Science Fellow program. Details about program requirements, eligibility, and deadlines can be found in the Request for Applications document. Apply by March 14, 2024.

Now Accepting Applications: Big Data Analytics Emerging Scholar Training Program for URM Undergrads in SC

The University of South Carolina Big Data Health Science Center is now accepting applications for the Big Data Analytics Emerging Scholar Training Program for URM Undergrads in South Carolina (1R25AI172761-01). 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. Please click for full details about the program, including eligibility, application process, FAQ, etc. The application deadline is March 1, 2024.

Recent News

Registration for the 5th National Big Data Health Science Conference is Now Open!

The 2024 Planning Committee is pleased to announce that registration for the 5th National Big Data Health Science Conference (Feb 2-3, 2024 | Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center) is now open. In addition to the below list of exceptional featured speakers, this conference includes six targeted breakout sessions, an NIH panel, workshops, poster sessions, and a formal networking reception. More information and the link to register can be found at https://www.sc-bdhs-conference.org/. Registration rates include $150 for faculty/professionals (including faculty from any college/university as well as researchers, industry representatives, government officials, and other professionals) and $50 for students and postdocs.

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.

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

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.

Recent & Upcoming Events

Deadline for Big Data Health Science Fellow Program

March 14, 2024

Deadline for Big Data Analytics Emerging Scholar Training Program for URM Undergrads in SC

March 1, 2024

5th National Big Data Health Science Conference 2024

February 2-3, 2024

National Big Data Health Science Student Case Competition 2024

January 26-28, 2024

A Bayesian Machine Learning Approach for Estimating Heterogeneous Survivor Causal Effects: Applications To a Critical Care Trial

December 7, 2023

Place Matters: Utility of Geospatial Data in Health Research

November 29, 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.

Donna Arnett Ph.D.

Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, University of South Carolina

Andrew C. Bledsoe

Deputy Executive Director
Kentucky Health Information Exchange, Office of the Inspector General, Commonwealth of Kentucky 

Jim Box

Principal Data Scientist
Life Sciences, SAS

Marcela Horvitz-Lennon, M.D.

Senior Physician Scientist
RAND Corporation

John Hsu, M.D.

Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School & Director, Program for Clinical Economics and Policy Analysis, Mongan Institute for Health Policy, Massachusetts General Hospital

Raphael Isokpehi, Ph.D.

Program Director, Training, Workforce Initiatives and Community Engagement (TWICE), Office of Data Science Strategy, NIH

Gaetano T. Montelione, Ph.D.

Professor and Constellation Endowed Chair, Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Ioannis Paschalidis, Ph.D.

Distinguished Professor, College of Engineering and Director, Rafik B. Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science and Engineering, Boston University

Lori Scott-Sheldon, Ph.D.

Chief of Data Science and Emerging Methodologies in HIV, National Institute of Mental Health

Xiaotong Shen, Ph.D.

John Black Johnston Distinguished Professor, College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota

COVID 19 Response

The USC BDHSC has responded quickly to create a comprehensive response in the fight against COVID-19. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, BDHSC has achieved notable results at coordinating existing research efforts and integrating dozens of fields of expertise to find solutions. To date, approximately 25 BDHSC faculty members is working on 19 different research projects. These projects are aiming to provide the framework and resources such as a state-wide data-driven system to fight COVID-19 in South Carolina, the use of social media data to help predict future pandemics and so on.

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.