Two years in, Meharry’s fourth school of study shows impressive results; data science Ph.D. begins in fall 2024
Meharry’s School of Applied Computational Sciences (SACS) was created two years ago to advance scholarship in key domains of computational sciences through four core areas—academics, clinical enterprise, research and development, and business processes and student support.
SACS has much to celebrate. Starting two years ago with a cohort of 11 students, it welcomed 34 students this fall—15 into the M.S. Data Science program; 11 into the M.S. Biomedical Data program and eight into the Ph.D. Biomedical Data Science program. The school will start classes for a new Data Science Ph.D. program in the fall of 2024.
Seven students will graduate in spring 2024 with a master’s degree in either data science or biomedical data science. Classes are online and synchronous and emphasize a practical approach to learning through several hands-on, individual and group projects that use real-world data. SACS recently received a $2.2 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) which will fund the development of a comprehensive data analytics infrastructure model to support maternal health care for underserved women with substance use disorders.
The HRSA grant is just one example of what has been a remarkable year in grant support for SACS. Two years ago, five grants totaling $1.1 million were received. In this calendar year, 20 grants have been received for a total of $9.9 million, making research in ethical AI, repurposing drugs for new treatments, improving pancreatic cell quantitation and other meaningful areas possible.
Enterprise Data and Analytics Division
Meharry’s strategic vision calls for the College to be a leader in data-driven, health equity-focused research. The Enterprise Data and Analytics Division (EDA), created in 2022, provides the data collection, management and analytics services that are essential to this data-centric vision. The EDA champions a data-driven culture across the Meharry enterprise. The division’s data services advance the College’s work to improve understanding of social determinants of health, clinical research and other work to advance health equity through research, education, health services and policy leadership.
The division also serves businesses in any industry as a consulting partner with data expertise, providing both data-driven strategies and the tools to implement them. The EDA has developed first-class data and high-performance computing resources ideal for applying advanced data visualization and big data analytics tools for research and development.
The data team recently completed the migration of Meharry’s data to the Meharry Azure cloud environment, providing a powerful tool that can scale the needs of the College. Meharry’s School of Applied Computational Sciences (SACS) and Enterprise Data and Analytics Division (EDA) recently hosted an open house in their offices at 3401 West End Avenue. The event brought students, faculty, Advancement Council members, industry partners and members of Meharry’s leadership and administration together to learn about the vision, research and projects underway for both Meharry SACS and the EDA.
