It's an exciting time for the DSxHE community as preparations are underway for a whole smörgåsbord of activities, following on from our launch back in April (photos and full recording ICYMI). If you haven't already, do join our Slack workspace to stay up to date with the latest happenings.
Ask not what DSxHE can do for you...
As DSxHE continues to grow, we are looking for more volunteers to join our fantastic organising team. Interested, or just want to learn more? Join us for a briefing meeting + Q&A on Monday 20th June at 6.15pm BST.
The usual, please
Check out this month's DSxHE Digest for articles on the (un)fairness of pandemic forecasting and the generalizability of polygenic scores. Our Data Viz of the Month is a sobering animation from the NYT marking the somber milestone of one million COVID-19 deaths in the US.
Join us for the next DSxHE Download on Tuesday 14th June at 8am BST. This month, we'll be hosted Matthew Chisambi + Lena Woldmann and Bing Wang, who'll be leading discussions on demographic data in diagnosis and the unequal numbers of GPs across England.
And of course, we have our usual curated list of upcoming events, job opportunities, awesome resources and funding calls from across the community.
Bon profit,
The DSxHE Team
And on today's menu....
News from DSxHE
Upcoming DSxHE Events
DSxHE is growing and we need your help! Join us on Monday 20th June at 6.15pm BST to learn more about the exciting new roles on the DSxHE organising team and how you can get involved.
Join us for The Download, our regular monthly virtual community space to discuss podcasts, articles, papers and more, amongst like-minded members of the DSxHE community! This month we'll be hearing from Matthew Chisambi + Lena Woldmann and Bing Wang, who will be leading discussions on demographic data in diagnosis and the unequal numbers of GPs across England respectively.
The event is open to anyone, anywhere, no matter your level of experience or background. Join us on Tuesday 14th June at 8am (BST).
Data Viz of the Month
This month's Data Viz, an animation from the New York Times marking one million people who have died from COVID-19 in the US, is both arresting and sobering. Originally posted on Twitter, the animation is accompanied by an interactive article describing how the US reached this grim milestone, and highlighting the devastating toll that COVID-19 has had on communities around the country.
The Digest
Algorithmic fairness in pandemic forecasting: lessons from COVID-19 Tsai et al. Since the start of the pandemic, many research teams have turned their attention to forecasting (e.g. cases, deaths, hospitalisations). Importantly, biases in both the data and the models risk being propagated to the predictions, potentially perpetuating disparities if these predictions are used to guide decision making. This paper outlines the various ways in which unfairness can be introduced into the algorithmic pipeline, and suggests strategies to mitigate against them.
Challenges and Opportunities for Developing More Generalizable Polygenic Risk Scores Wang et al. Polygenic scores are individual level estimates of the genetic contribution to a particular trait or disease. By identifying those who are at particularly high risk of developing a certain disease, they offer great promise for preventative medicine to improve population health. However, polygenic scores tend to generalise poorly across diverse ancestries, leading to concerns about their potential impact on health inequalities. This review covers the latest developments in the field and identifies key areas for future research.
Want to see all the articles, podcasts, papers, blogs, videos, funding calls, events and training opportunities that have been shared across the DSxHE Slack workspace?
Call for events
Do you have an idea for an event that might be relevant to the DSxHE community? We have a fantastic (and growing) team of volunteers itching to help you plan, organise and promote it.
Call for themes
Want to shine a light on a specific area of interest in data science and health equity, and want to tap into the DSxHE community? Setting up a DSxHE Theme might be just the thing for you.
Call for partners
We looking for partners to help build the community and support our activities. Four different types of partnerships are available - core, theme, event, and media.
News from the Community
Upcoming events
Here's a few external events coming up in the next month that might float your boat. If there's an event you'd like to highlight on a future edition of this newsletter, then post in on #events on our Slack workspace or get in touch.
Open Data in Health - Open Data Saves Lives. Wednesday 8th June 12noon BST.
UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems Health and Social Care Workshop. Tuesday 7th and Wednesday 8th June.
Health Services Research UK. Tuesday 5th and Wednesday 7th July. Online & in person (Sheffield, UK).
Funding calls
We've rounded up some highlights below - come and join our Slack channel to keep updated with the latest funding opportunities.
Alan Turing: Funding call for online learning courses in Responsible AI. Turing is inviting all researchers affiliated with a UK-based university, research institution or organisation to submit proposals, offering up to £30,000 per project. Deadline Monday 13th June.
Lacuna Fund: Dataset for Climate applications. Lacuna Fund seeks proposals from organizations interested in developing datasets for equitable climate outcomes in climate & energy and climate & health. Proposal deadline: 17th July 2022.
Job opportunities
Looking for your next career move or project? We'll bring you a rundown of new roles and opportunities to further health equity through data science. If you're looking to find the next bright star in your team, share your advert with the community on Slack:
Analysis Manager - Joseph Rowntree Foundation. A permanent, full-time (open to flexibility) role based in York or London. £45,045 per annum with an additional £5,000 if based in London. Deadline Monday 6th June.
Technology Lead (Data for Science & Health) - Wellcome. A permanent, full-time role, part-remote and part-based in their London offices. £72,992.00 per annum. Deadline Tuesday 14th June.
LCP is offering a number of roles including:
Health Analytics Postgraduate Internship - deadline Friday 24th June.
Health Analytics Principle - rolling deadline
PhD studentship on generalisability and transportability in clinical trials at UCL Statistical Science. This is a four year studentship with a stipend of £19,602. Deadline Friday 24th June
Monitoring, Verification, and Evaluation (MVE) Coordinator - The Trans Learning Partnership. This is a part-time (0.5FTE) role salaried at £30,000 pro rata. currently remote with offices in London. Deadline Friday 8th July 12noon BST