Irvine Summer Institute in Biostatistics and Data Science

Irvine Summer Institute in Biostatistics and Undergraduate Data Science Project Summary The goal of this project is to establish a Summer Institute in Biostatistics and Undergraduate Data Sci- ence at the University of California, Irvine. The investigators will develop short courses in modern method- ology and practice of biostatistics and data science. These courses will highlight applications in cutting edge biomedical research, will train students in fundamentals of biostatistics, data science, and com- puting, and will culminate in a team project co-supervised by statisticians and biomedical scientists. In addition, the institute will include sessions helping students improve their transferrable skills: e.g., oral and written presentation skills. Particular attention will be paid to mentoring and career guidance. The institute will culminate with a mini-symposium with keynote lectures and a student poster session. One of the main goals of the proposed institute will be attracting mathematically inclined undergraduate students, especially from groups that are underrepresented in STEM fields, to the field of Biostatistics and Biomedical Data Science. UC Irvine is ideally suited for hosting the proposed institute. The institute leadership team consists of UC Irvine Statistics faculty. The Department of Statistics at UC Irvine is heavily invested in biomedical research directly relevant to the mission of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and National Insti- tute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which guarantees that there will be no shortage of highly qualified summer institute instructors. Design and analysis of clinical trials, causal inference, modeling of infectious disease dynamics, analysis of big data in genomics, transcriptomics, and image analysis provide a small sample of potential applications that will be used as examples in the institute short courses. Another ad- vantage of Statistics faculty being at the helm of the summer institute is vast experience of the leadership team and the rest of the department faculty in teaching and mentoring undergraduate students. The School of Information and Computer Science, which houses Computer Science, Informatics, and Statistics Depart- ments, is a national leader in Data Science education and research — the school is home to one of the first in the nation Data Science undergraduate degree programs and Data Science Institute that serves as a hub of data-driven research at UC Irvine. UC Irvine successful recruitment of underrepresented populations has been recognized by Hispanic-serving institution and Asian American and Native American Pacific Is- lander Serving Institution designations. The summer institute recruitment of participants will tap into UC Irvine existing programs and infrastructure for reaching out to underrepresented student groups. The con- fluence of Biostatistics and Biomedical Data Science expertise, investment in Data Science research and pedagogical innovations, and strong commitment to diversity and inclusion ensures that Irvine Summer Institute in Biostatistics and Undergraduate Data Science will be a successful endeavor. 1