Data Science in Health: A Holistic Perspective – Prof. Rumi Chunara

Join us for the Data Sciences Speaker Series with Prof. Rumi Chunara, Associate Professor, Biostatistics, and Computer Science and Engineering,  Director of the Center for Health Data Science, NYU. This talk is co-sponsored by the Data Sciences Institute and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. 

Registration Required – REGISTER HERE 

• Date: February 12, 2024
• Time: 11:00am – 12:00pm 
• Format: In-person 
• Location: Data Sciences Institute, 10th floor Seminar Room, 700 University Avenue, Toronto

Talk Title: Data Science in Health: A Holistic Perspective

Description:

Population and public health sciences illustrate the social, cultural, economic, and other factors at individual, community, organizational, and policy levels that drive health and quality of life and are all often complicated by power dynamics and discrimination. When attempting to quantify these complex concepts through data and statistical analyses, we encounter both promising opportunities to enrich our theoretical frameworks and significant challenges that can exacerbate disparities. In this seminar, we will illustrate example areas situated at this nexus. Overall, this talk aims to inspire approaches to quantitative studies that are grounded in and incorporate theoretical and qualitative knowledge.

Biography: 

The overarching goal of Dr. Rumi Chunara’s research is to develop computational and statistical approaches for acquiring, integrating and using data to improve population-level public health. She focuses on the design and development of data mining and machine learning methods to address challenges related to data and goals of public health, as well as fairness and ethics in the design and use of data and algorithms embedded in social systems. At NYU, Dr. Chunara also Directs the Center for Health Data Science, which develops data science methods in public and population health, as well as knowledge ecosystems to share and translate knowledge across disciplines and places. Previously, she was a Postdoctoral Fellow and Instructor at HealthMap and the Children’s Hospital Informatics Program at Harvard Medical School. She completed her PhD at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology and BSc at Caltech. She is an NSF CAREER, Facebook Research, Gates Foundation Grand Challenges, MIT Technology Review Top 35 Innovators Under 35 and Max Planck Sabbatical award winner.