Big Data Training for Cancer Research

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PROJECT SUMMARY Following the NIH Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) initiative, we have been continuously funded by NCI to create a two-week summer training program for cancer researchers who are novices in big data analysis. During the past seven years, we have successfully organized both in-person and online hands-on training opportunities for traditionally trained biomedical and cancer researchers. Our current workshop uses applications involving cancer data to teach valuable data science and bioinformatics approaches. However, we strongly believe that these data science skills are somewhat general. With this funding opportunity, we are excited to extend our workshop materials with an additional module utilizing data familiar to infectious and immune-mediated disease (IID) researchers and relevant approaches such as scripting in R, exploratory analysis, data wrangling, and visualization of longitudinal data. The proposed supplement is directly responsive to NOT-AI-23-010 and will enable IID researchers to more confidently explore existing IID data, set up their own analysis plans, and communicate within research teams. Our proposed supplement course has three goals: (1) Develop two new IID-related case studies for teaching purposes, both relevant to IID researchers and a more general audience of biomedical researchers; (2) Create publicly accessible, reusable online materials for IID and cancer research communities that provide instruction in exploratory data analysis, data wrangling, quality control, and computer programming; and (3) Add these new case studies and materials to supplement the currently funded workshop on big cancer data as a new hybrid (in- person and online) pre-module. Like our original R25 workshop, this course will target graduate students, postdoctoral trainees, physician-scientists, and biomedical scientists, with strong IID backgrounds yet limited advanced coursework in statistics, bioinformatics, and computer science. We plan to offer this new module as an addition to our current course rather than as a separate course. Even a brief scan of the current literature will provide evidence between cancer, immunology (including COVID), and microbiome. We expect additional benefits for participants based on interdisciplinary interactions and knowledge they will obtain through participation in the combined course. Finally, many participants in past courses state that having dedicated time to interact with faculty and other participants and to explore topics of interest independently gave them the confidence to ask and answer questions—in essence to be self-directed learners.