Tackling disparities with data science

If the formation of data science institutes is the measurement, 2018 could go down as the year big data truly took hold in Middle Tennessee. Three higher education institutions have announced such ventures this year: Middle Tennessee State University launched its interdisciplinary center in June and, following a similar approach, Vanderbilt University opened one in August.

By that time, Meharry Medical College officials were nearing an important big data milestone of their own: the one-year anniversary of mining a massive database for insights into health issues, challenges and trends impacting the health of a very specific population, Nashville’s medically underserved. The college celebrated the one-year mark with the unveiling of its new Data Science Institute led by Amy Andrade, who also serves as the school’s senior advisor on innovation and technology.