Welcome from the Executive Director

As we enter the second year since the launch of the Center for Health Data Science (CHDS) last fall, I’m encouraged by the progress we’ve made toward our shared goals. Our vision remains clear: Data Science for the Health of All. By integrating high-quality data science into the core elements of our school’s purpose — THINK. TEACH. DO. — we aim to generate new knowledge from data that can improve health outcomes for everyone. CHDS serves as a bridge, connecting data to researchers, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, linking students with mentors, and bringing researchers together with the community to advance public health.

Looking back over the past year, we’ve supported a range of activities— from seminars and undergraduate hackathons to community projects— that put data science into practice. The photos below reflect the commitment of our faculty, students, and partners. I look forward to continuing this work together in the year ahead.

In this issue of the CHDS Newsletter, we share a recap of recent events and seminars as well as spotlight a faculty affiliate. We look forward to staying connected with you!

Warmest wishes,

Debbie Cheng
Executive Director, Center for Health Data Science

CHDS Highlights

In this edition of the Center for Health Data Science Newsletter, we highlight a few of our events and seminars from the past year.

Faculty Spotlight: Fatema Shafie Khorassani, PhD

In this issue, we spotlight Dr. Fatema Shafie Khorassani, Assistant Professor of Biostatistics at Boston University School of Public Health.

BEDAC’s Enhanced Collaborative Model for Research Support

We are excited to announce an updated collaborative and financial model for the Biostatistics and Epidemiology Data Analytics Center (BEDAC). We now include a full-time equivalent (FTE) option, i.e. percent effort, alongside our existing hourly rate mechanism. The FTE option offers additional flexibility toward ensuring our projects are efficiently and effectively supported while enhancing collaboration and remaining affordable. For more information, please visit our website. We look forward to collaborating!

CHDS Supplemental Research Award Recipients

Congratulations to the recipients of the 2025 Center for Health Data Science Supplemental Research Awards! Each project was granted 10% FTE of data analytic support from the Biostatistics and Epidemiology Data Analytics Center (BEDAC) for a period of 3 months.

CHDS Pilot Award Recipients

Congratulations to the 2024-2025 Health Data Science Seed Funding Awardees! The applications proposed a broad range of exciting and innovative health data science research. Each recipient was awarded $5000 in seed funding and presented their work at the Health Data Science Poster Session in September 2025.

Upcoming Events

In partnership with the Institute for Excellence in Teaching & Learning, AIDA is launching a new event series for BU faculty to showcase how their faculty colleagues are using GenAI to enhance teaching and learning across disciplines. Each session is designed with a primary audience in mind—humanities and social sciences faculty, STEM faculty, business/education/communication faculty, or faculty across disciplines for the policy session—and will conclude with a 30-minute networking session with refreshments. All sessions take place from 4-6 pm in CDS 1101.
Register Now — Limited Spots Available