196543 PopSciGrid: Using cyberinfrastructure to enable data harmonization, collaboration, and advanced computation of nationally representative behavioral, demographic, and economic data

Wednesday, November 11, 2009: 8:30 AM

Abdul R. Shaikh, PhD, MHSc , National Cancer Institute, Division of Cancer Control and Population Science, Behavioral Research Program, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD
Noshir Contractor, PhD , Director, Science of Networks in Communities (SONIC) Research Laboratory, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
Richard Moser, PhD , Behavioral Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD
Glen D. Morgan, PhD , Behavioral Research Program, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD
Paul K. Courtney, MS , Booz Allen Hamilton, Rockville, MD
Erik M. Augustson, PhD , Tobacco Control Research Branch, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD
Alison Marie Pilsner, MPH, CPH , Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute (NIH), Bethesda, MD
Bradford W. Hesse, PhD , Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD
In the context of a ‘cells to society' deluge of information spanning the genomic, biomedical, behavioral, and environmental sciences, the public health community must come to terms with the unprecedented amount of electronic data available at our fingertips. The National Research Council has identified data sharing and integration as primary challenges for utilizing advances in health informatics at the population level (Computational Technology for Effective Health Care, 2009). To help engage public health scientists and practitioners in this regard, the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Division of Cancer Control and Population Science (DCCPS) has developed a population sciences portal called PopSciGrid on the cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid (caBIG). With tobacco as an exemplar, this presentation will demonstrate how PopSciGrid links national data from NHIS and HINTS with economic data (i.e., 14 datasets spanning 6 years) using geo-spatial and statistical applications to enable real-time access, analysis, and visualization (http://129.105.36.86/GridServer/c/index.html#). PopSciGrid can help encourage multi-disciplinary collaboration, data harmonization, and development of new computational methods to rapidly analyze and identify longitudinal, multi-level patterns in health related data. By developing specific grid-enabled applications for different public health stakeholders - researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and the public - computing initiatives such as PopSciGrid have the potential to transform public health information systems and open up new areas for research and policy. Potential NIH funding opportunities in cyber-enabled research will also be discussed.

Learning Objectives:
• Define concepts such as cyberinfrastructure, grid-enabled computing, data harmonization, virtual organizations, and their potential for transforming the scientific enterprise • Identify advantages/applications of grid-enabled computing for specific stakeholder audiences (e.g., researchers, public health and clinical practitioners)

Keywords: Public Health Informatics, Data/Surveillance

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Dr. Abdul R. Shaikh is a Program Director in NCI's Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch. With a diverse background in public health research and practice, his current responsibilities include overseeing Branch-related NIH grants and contracts, coordinating scientific discussions through conferences and workshops, staying abreast of new technologies with an eye toward implications for health communication research, and pursuing his own program of research in technology-mediated health communication and psychosocial determinants of health-related behaviors. Prior to joining the Branch, Dr. Shaikh was a Cancer Prevention Fellow in the Behavioral Research Program, Health Promotion Research Branch at NCI. In this capacity, he collaborated on multiple innovative cancer prevention research projects, contributed to policy-related initiatives, and conducted presentations to both general public and scientific audiences. Before coming to NCI, Dr. Shaikh was Project Director for Eat for Life, a tailored nutrition intervention for African Americans at the University of Michigan Center for Health Communications Research. He was also a Research Associate in health communication and evaluation research at a leading research consulting firm, where he conducted numerous research, evaluation, and usability redesign projects with a broad range of DHHS clients including the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Shaikh received his PhD in Health Behavior and Health Education from the University of Michigan School of Public Health, where he was a Rackham Merit Fellow. He received his MHSc in Health Promotion as a University of Toronto Open Fellow, and his BS in Psychology from the University of Toronto.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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See more of: Health Informatics Information Technology