Technology and Data Science Core

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Project Summary/Abstract The Clinical Research Center for the Improved Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Vocal Hyperfunction (VHCRC) brings together a multidisciplinary team of experienced and productive investigators to pursue a comprehensive program of research focused on the study of hyperfunctional voice disorders. The Technology and Data Science Core (Tech Core) is a critical component of the VHCRC and provides central services and resources related to include procurement, setup, and maintenance of technology and equipment at the Massachusetts General Hospital Voice Center (MGH Voice Center) and Boston Medical Center; data quality checks and pre-processing; signal/image processing resources and services for all Projects; centralized database management integrating data types from all Projects; statistical and machine learning services to all Projects; and data sharing with Project collaborators and the broader research community. The Tech Core is primarily housed at the MGH Voice Center and includes a state-of-the-art voice clinic, the Voice and Speech Laboratory for vocal function testing, and the Laryngeal Surgery Research Laboratories for technology development and ongoing device maintenance. The Tech Core will provide biostatistical consulting expertise to VHCRC investigators through a subaward to the MGH Institute of Health Professions, especially with respect to the analysis of longitudinal data, latent profile analysis (unsupervised clustering for subtyping), structural equation modeling, and hierarchical linear modeling. The Tech Core also has a subaward to the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory to provide advanced machine learning services (supervised classification, unsupervised clustering, and deep learning) to VHCRC investigators. The VHCRC will be greater than the sum of its parts because the Tech Core will increase project effectiveness by centralizing labor-intensive database organizational tasks, retrieving and organizing data regarding standard clinical voice assessment and treatment services for enrolled patients, performing advanced voice analysis, and managing data quality through automatic and semi-automatic pre-processing of thousands of hours of ambulatory participant data. The Tech Core will effectively integrate data types obtained by all Projects into a centralized, multidimensional voice database that will be organized, catalogued, and available to VHCRC investigators and the broader research community. The Tech Core will coordinate the sharing of high-quality data in a timely manner and, in conjunction with the Administrative Core, facilitate regular communication among all research teams to stimulate ongoing research progress.