Spring Data Science Fellowship Opportunit

---

Program: The Data Incubator is an intensive 8 week fellowship that prepares masters, PhDs, and postdocs in STEM and social science fields seeking industry careers as data scientists. The program is free for Fellows and supported by sponsorships from hundreds of employers across multiple industries. In response to the overwhelming interest in our earlier sessions, we will be holding another fellowship.
Locations: There will be both an in-person (in NYC, DC, SF) and online section of the fellowship. There is a common application for both the online and in-person sections.
Dates: All sections will be from 2016-03-21 to 2016-05-13
Application Link: http://www.thedataincubator.com/#apply?ref=wbWFsbWFzc2FAdXZtLmVkdQ==
Data Science in 30 minutes: Join our free webcast on building a data science project in 30 minutes. Signup soon as space is limited: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/data-science-in-thirty-minutes-tickets-19840055139.
Who Should Apply: Anyone within one year of graduating from a master's or PhD program or who has already obtained a master's or PhD is welcome to apply. Applications from international students are welcome. Everyone else is encouraged to sign-up for a future session.
Learn More: You can learn about our fellows at The New York Times or Palantir. To read about our latest fellow alumni, check out blog. To learn more about The Data Incubator, check us out on Venture Beat, The Next Web, or Harvard Business Review.

Two new opportunities at NCQA

This from Sarah Scholle, VP at NCQA:

I wanted to let you know about two new opportunities at NCQA – I hope you will pass this information on to your colleagues and students.

First, the Phyllis Torda Health Care Quality fellowship program.  We’ve initiated the fellowship to honor the life of our late colleague by developing new leaders to embrace the cause of improving health care quality. The Phyllis Torda fellow will work on critical issues related to health care quality, research and policy:

·    How patient-reported outcomes can improve case management.

·    Patient engagement in care and providing better information for decision making.

·    Quality related to behavioral health.

·    Measurement for vulnerable and diverse populations.

NCQA seeks fellowship candidates who embody Phyllis’ energy and passion for health care quality research and policy. The fellowship is a unique opportunity. It is tailored to the individual applicant’s career goals. The fellowship is full time and lasts 12 months in the NCQA offices in downtown Washington, DC. Eligibility is open to candidates who’ve earned a master’s degree, a professional degree or a doctoral degree in a health-related field.  Applications are due by January 15, 2016. For more information and to apply, visitwww.ncqa.org/tordafellowship.

 Second, for the experienced researcher:

We are recruiting an Assistant Vice President to support the development and execution of NCQA’s research program. The position is primarily funded by grants and contracts. The successful candidate will, in collaboration with department leadership, identify, develop, lead, and collaborate on research grants and contracts that promote NCQA’s mission of improving the quality of health care.  We are seeking an individual with experience in quantitative and qualitative research particularly in areas of strategic interest such as value-based payment, delivery system transformation, electronic health records, and patient-reported outcomes. More information about the position is available on our website: http://www.ncqa.org/tabid/388/Default.aspx.

We would very much appreciate your help in sharing the message about these opportunities with your network.

Thanks
Sarah

Clinical Research Oriented Workshop (CROW) Meeting: November 12, 2015

Present:  Kairn Kelley, Rodger Kessler, Ben Littenberg, Connie van Eeghen

Start Up:  Did you know that presentations are like articles, and co-authors should be informed of their name’s being used?  New to one of us…

1.                  Discussion: Kairn’s update 

a.       Kairn has been working on interpretation of the equations related to the findings of her study.  Her goal is to plan her discussion for an audience of clinical audiologists.

                                                  i.      There is a FINER article on the correction of the existing model (which needs covariance)

b.      The current paper may be focused on any one of interesting issues that Kairn is curious about:

                                                  i.      How much change occurs on retest?

                                                ii.      Is there a learning effect on the SCAN (the words test); do most kids really do better?

                                              iii.      Was there a test that was more reliable in than others?

1.      Classification (normal/abnormal) by Digits test was not consistent (because normal statistics were applied to a skewed distribution)

2.      Various cut-offs for the Syllabus test were tried; none resulted in consistent classification

                                              iv.      Either the Digits test has false positives or the Words test has false negatives

1.      Kids who did not do well with the Words test had parent reports of concerns (4/5 had parent concerns)

                                                v.      It is not possible to test ear difference on a 40 item Words test (20 right and 20 left)

                                              vi.      We know the detectable changes on each test; the smallest effect that is > chance is larger than expected, i.e. the test lacks precision.  The minimally detectable change is too large for use in normal clinical settings.

1.      There is little evidence of variability outside the binomial variation.  If the sample size is large (item count on test), better precision.

                                            vii.      Although the population was assumed to be normal, but parent report indicated otherwise for some, how do those score results differ from the rest?

1.      There is a relationship across all the data; this is not a helpful outcome.

                                          viii.      Virtues: the tests are stable over time, no extraneous sources of variability, not tightly correlated (or not fully correlated) so not measuring exactly the same thing, and no one should use a 40 item test. Areas for investigation:

1.      How to build an efficient, more reliable test

2.      How to create a gold standard that is dependent on a construct: what do we mean by auditory disorder

                                              ix.      Key findings:

1.      Repeatability coefficient (graphed against the number of items: power log) for each test, which could identify the number of items for a desired level of precision

                                                x.      Focus of article:

1.      How big the changes were

2.      Any change score smaller than x is too small to be meaningful

3.      The tests are not long enough; don’t rely on them

4.      Organize by score or by category?  Unsure

c.       Next steps:

                                                  i.      Rework draft and return to review

                                                ii.      Consider an SBIR grant for an “item response” theory driven derived (e.g. adaptive testing)

2.                  Next Workshop Meeting(s): Thursdays, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m., at Given Courtyard South 4.  

a.       November 19: Marianne’s update

b.      November 26: Cancelled

c.       December 3: Kairn’s 1^st draft of manuscript (no Ben)

d.      December 10: TBD (no Ben)

e.       December 17: Rodger on data set of “at-risk type 2 DM”

Recorder: Connie van Eeghen

NIH Loan Repayment Programs

The NIH Loan Repayment Programs are accepting applications now through November 16, 2015.

In exchange for a two-year research commitment, the NIH LRPs will repay up to $70,000 in eligible student loan debt to researchers and health professionals conducting qualifying research funded by domestic non-profit or government organizations.

The 2016 Loan Repayment Programs applications deadline is November 16, 2015 at 8:00 PM. Please visit our webpage at www.lrp.nih.gov to learn more about eligibly and to apply.

If you have any questions about the application process, please contact our Information Center, Monday-Friday, from 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM, EST. We can be reached by phone at 866-849-4047 FREE and by email at lrp@nih.gov.

Our Information Center will be available to answer your questions on November 11 (Veteran’s Day) and on Saturday, November 14 from 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM, EST.

Apply Today!

https://www.lrp.nih.gov/apply

Kessler to deliver talk to The Vermont Center on Behavior and Health

The Vermont Center on Behavior and Health (VCBH) is very pleased to welcome UVM’s own Rodger Kessler, Ph.D. for November’s Lecture Series presentation.  

Dr. Kessler’s talk, "An Emerging Bold Standard for Conducting Relevant Research in a Changing World,” takes place on November 18, from Noon to 1 p.m., in the Davis Auditorium.

NCHS Launches Global CRVS Training Program

NCHS’s new, fully customizable global training course on civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) provides background and important information on vital statistics gathered from a national civil registration program. For the free customizable Training Course on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Systems, see the NCHS website.

Prevention and Control of Cancer: Post-Doctoral Training in Implementation Science (PRACCTIS)

Dear Dr. Littenberg,

I hope this message finds you well. I am writing today to share word with you of a new fellowship training opportunity at the University of Massachusetts Medical School that may be of interest to graduating students within your doctoral program.

The Prevention and Control of Cancer: Post-Doctoral Training in Implementation Science (PRACCTIS) is a full-time, multi-year program funded by the National Cancer Institute and intended to cultivate researchers committed to improving cancer care and outcomes through the translation of research into practice and the implementation of evidence-based interventions.

I have attached a program flyer to this email and included a description below. We would appreciate you sharing this with any students or faculty in your school or forwarding this information to any other parties that may be interested. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me personally or email the program at pracctis@umassmed.edu.  

Thanks so much for your time.

Sincerely,

Stephenie Lemon

Stephenie C. Lemon, PhD

Professor of Medicine

Division of Preventive and Behavioral Medicine

Co-Director

PRACCTIS fellowship program

Director

UMass Worcester Prevention Research Center
University of Massachusetts Medical School
Worcester, MA 01605

What is PRACCTIS?

PRACCTIS is a full-time NCI-funded post-doctoral fellowship training program designed to provide the next generation of cancer prevention and control researchers with the knowledge and skill sets to eliminate gaps in the translation of research to practice along the cancer continuum, including prevention of disease, early detection, diagnosis, treatment and survivorship.

This 2-3 year program emphasizes didactic training in implementation science and mentored research opportunities and provides access to a wide array of training and enrichment opportunities on the UMass Medical School campus. We emphasize training independent investigators who will become leaders in cancer prevention and control implementation science research.

Unique Training Opportunities

PRACCTIS provides opportunities for trainees to:

• Receive team mentorship from experts in implementation science and cancer prevention and control
• Take specialized courses in implementation science
• Complete an optional Master of Science in Clinical Investigation
• Join highly effective research teams
• Gather pilot data that builds toward a future research trajectory
• Conduct real-world research through full immersion in collaborative research relationships with clinical, public health or community partners
• Participate in mock NIH grant review sessions
• Participate in unique clubs, including a campus-wide K-club to inform the submission an NIH grant proposal
• Publish manuscripts and make presentations at national conferences
• Draw upon career planning and placement resources

Application Deadline: February 15, 2016

For more information about the training program email: pracctis@umassmed.edu

Program Website: http://www.umassmed.edu/pracctis/