Presented as a tickler for discussion at the Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing, Hawaii, Jan 7, 2016

1. A SWOT Analysis of Data
Science @ NIH
Philip E. Bourne, PhD, FACMI
Associate Director for Data Science
PSB, Hawaii  January 07, 2016

2. First a Little Context

3. BD2K is Implementing the ACD Data & Informatics Recommendations*
DIWG Recommendations
1. Sharing data & software through
indexes
2. Advance big methods, tools &
applications
3. Expand data science training
4. Continued support throughout the
data & software lifecycle
BD2K Implementation
1. Implement the Commons (indices,
standards, etc.)
2. Data science research programs
(Centers, U01s, etc.)
3. Training and workforce development
programs
4. Addressing sustainability of science,
technology, and funding mechanisms
* http://acd.od.nih.gov/diwg.htm

4. The BD2K Program
$0
$20,000,000
$40,000,000
$60,000,000
$80,000,000
$100,000,000
$120,000,000
FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21
total available
BD2K Budget

5. Opportunities & Threats -
Photography
Digitization
Deception
Disruption
Demonetization
Dematerialization
Democratization
Time
Volume,Velocity,Variety
Digital camera invented by
Kodak but shelved
Megapixels & quality improve slowly;
Kodak slow to react
Film market collapses;
Kodak goes bankrupt
Phones replace
cameras
Instagram,
Flickr become the
value proposition
Digital media becomes bona fide
form of communication

6. Opportunities & Threats:
Biomedical Research
Digitization of Basic &
Clinical Research & EHR’s
Deception
We Are Here
Disruption
Demonetization
Dematerialization
Democratization
Open science
Patient centered health care

7. Opportunities & Threats
• O: “Disruption” - data & analytics will become
more central to the biomedical enterprise
• T: The time to this realization is much longer
than it need be
• T: The efficiency of the enterprise is not what
it should be
• T: We do too little to address existing & future
pain points

8. Weaknesses
• Access vs privacy of human subjects data
• Gender and race inequality
• Valuing scholarship / reward systems
• Appropriate review
• Sustainability
• Insufficient resources

9. Sustainability
• Revised governance
structure
• Inventory of NIH
data repositories and
costs
• The Commons
• Interoperability pilots
• Sustainability FOAs
• Policy
recommendations

10. ADDS Team
IC Representatives
Leadership
Insufficient Resources

11. Strengths
 439 participants
 167 remote viewers
 Breakout sessions
 133 Posters
 16 Demos
 3 BOFs
http://www.scgcorp.com/bd2k2015/Default

12. Strengths
• Large datasets, e.g., 46M Aetna EHRs
• Data integration, e.g., Mobile health + Yelp
• Analysis, e.g., machine learning to predict
phenotype from EHRs
• Diverse data types, e.g., genomics, proteomics,
imaging, clinical trials, EHRs
• Collaboration, e.g., joint API development, use and
requests for metadata templates, data sharing
• Depth of training
• International

13. Additional Reading
• Strategic plan for 2016-17
• ADDS 2015 Blog
• The Office of Data Science

14. NIH…
Turning Discovery Into Health
philip.bourne@nih.gov
https://datascience.nih.gov/