The rapid expansion of “big data” in biomedical science, from genomics to medical imaging and electronic health records, has created a need for scientists who can translate complex datasets into insights that advance patient care.
This past August, Yale University and Ashoka University launched the Biomedical Data Summer Programme at Ashoka University (BDSA), a three-week course designed to give students from a variety of disciplines hands-on experience working with biomedical big data. Hosted at Ashoka’s Trivedi School of Biosciences in Sonipat, India, the program brought together faculty from both institutions for lectures, workshops, and mentored research.
The BDSA was envisioned by Bhramar Mukherjee, PhD, Anna M.R. Lauder Professor of Biostatistics and professor of epidemiology (chronic diseases), statistics, and data science at the Yale School of Public Health (YSPH), and built on similar initiatives she’s built at Yale and the University of Michigan.
The program grew out of Mukherjee’s longstanding collaborations with faculty at Ashoka University, including Anurag Agrawal, MBBS, PhD, dean of biosciences and health research at Trivedi. The BDSA offered a new opportunity to deepen the relationship between the two institutions.
“Ashoka University has established itself as a leading academic enterprise in India in a short time since its founding, and we were fortunate to have the opportunity to collaborate with them to attract top talent from India,” said Mukherjee.
The goal of the BDSA was to bring medicine, computer science, and data science into one space for students at the institution.
Agrawal, who played an instrumental role in launching the program at Ashoka, emphasizes its relevance in India’s rapidly evolving research landscape. “In today's age, where data-driven decision-making is crucial, training in biomedical data science is essential for students and institutions in India to stay at the forefront of innovation and impact,” he said.
“There are superb programs in both statistics and medicine in India, but the culture and tradition of biostatistics, where these two disciplines meet, has not flourished,” Mukherjee added. “We wanted to build a structure that brings these communities together and helps create a broader intersectional training ecosystem for health data science.”
Over the three weeks, students participated in an intensive lecture series focused on building a strong theoretical and practical foundation in biomedical data science. Morning sessions combined didactic teaching with demonstrations and applied case studies, covering core topics such as biostatistics, epidemiology, genomics, biomedical imaging, machine learning, digital health, and data ethics. The program concluded with a day-long symposium featuring keynote speakers, where all students presented their course projects.
Jackson Higginbottom, MPH, who serves as program manager for the Public Health Data Science and Data Equity Initiative at YSPH, taught two sessions at BDSA: “From Data to Dialogue: Principles of Science Communication” and “LinkedIn & Networking: Strengthening Your Presence Both On and Offline.” His goal was to help students think early about how to communicate the impact of their research.
“Scientists often wait until the end to consider how to share their work, but communication starts much earlier,” Higginbottom explained. “Even when you’re first drafting a proposal, you need to be thinking about how to convey why your project matters, especially in a world where someone might scan a spreadsheet of project titles to decide what gets funded. I wanted students to start building those skills while they were working on their team projects.”
Students in the program included PhD and medical trainees, as well as practicing physicians. Many were eager for training that moved beyond theory, says Higginbottom. “Statistics education is often very theoretical, and students don’t always see how it connects to real-world problems,” he added. “What they appreciated about this program was learning how to apply their skills in ways that could directly impact the communities they come from.”
The focused training is anticipated to generate long-term interest in the students for taking up careers related to big data in biomedical sciences, including graduate-level research and beyond.
“Ashoka students and researchers cherished the opportunity to interact with the Yale team this summer, and the rich experience of the team ensured a memorable and practically useful program for the students,” said Agrawal.
Mukherjee, who also serves as senior associate dean of public health data science and data equity at YSPH, hopes for this program to continue year after year.
“I definitely see a huge return on this investment. Our participants felt this was a transformative experience for them,” she said. “This seed program may shape into a degree program in health data science in the future and serve students not only in India but across Southeast Asia.”