The Harvard Data Science Initiative is celebrating its first-year successes and planning its next steps.
Cambridge, Mass.-based Harvard University launched the center in March 2017 with the mission to support research. The center has since introduced three master's degree programs: health data science at the Boston-based Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, data science through Harvard University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences and biomedical informatics at Boston-based Harvard Medical School, which also offers a PhD.
"The accomplishments of our first year are built on Harvard's commitment to advancing data science, and we look forward to expanding our impact in the years to come," said HDSI Co-Director David Parkes, PhD.
Starting this fall, the center's research will focus on personalized health, evidence-based policy, networks and markets, data-driven scientific discovery, and methodology. HDSI plans to fundraise for these efforts.
"These new research themes reflect conversations with key players across the university, and we feel confident that they convey the essence of what it means to do data science at Harvard," Dr. Parkes added. "They recognize that successful data science must, first and foremost, respect rigorous data science methodologies, and then take things one step further, through innovative application to problems at the forefront of all fields."