Frost Institute for Data Science & Computing

Ribeiro Innovation Fund Speaker Series presents Thomas Tucker 3/28
2022-03-10 08:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Wolfson Building, 5100 Brunson Drive, Coral Gables, FL, 33146, United States
As a visual artist, Thomas Tucker is about creating spatial environments that dynamically represent inner vision and 3D form. Over the years, the ways in which he manipulates space, sound, and visual images have been impacted by the multiple technologies he deploys. What started out as simple hand drawings, has progressed to complex animations, projection mapping installations, and Virtual Reality. Because his work is rooted in art, technology, math, and science, it lends itself to interdisciplinary collaborations in a variety of ﬁelds.
This hybrid (in-person/online) presentation is free and open to the public, and co-hosted by the School of Communication and the Institute for Data Science and Computing.
Monday, March 28 • 11:00 AM-12:00 PM
Register Now on Eventbrite
LOCATION
University of Miami School of Communication
Wolfson Building, Room 1021 (located on first floor)
5100 Brunson Drive, Coral Gables, FL 33146
Map + Directions

About Thomas Tucker
Thomas Tucker received his BFA from Kansas City Art Institute and his MFA from School of the Art Institute of Chicago where he was a Joan Mitchell MFA grant recipient. He has been evolving complex drawings into animation/kinetic sculptural pieces using 3D software and sound design for over a decade.
Prof. Tucker maintains an international profile through his exhibition record and his collaborative research, which often takes him to Japan and the Middle East. Some of these projects include: dealing with body mechanics using motion capture, using technology to create a responsive virtual heritage environment in collaboration with art historians, using animation to describe internal organ movements in collaboration with bimolecular imaging specialists, helping city councilmen visualize new traffic simulations and designing serious games.

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Introductory IBM Cognitive Cloud Academy Workshop for UM Community 3/4
2022-03-04 12:00 - 15:30 (America/New_York) | Zoom (online)
On March 4th, the University of Miami will host a half-day IBM Cognitive Cloud Academy Workshop. The workshop will provide an overview of IBM’s academic programs, an introduction to IBM Cloud, Services for Data & AI, and Processing infrastructure. These services and infrastructure can be used to support a wide range of AI and cognitive-based research projects and curricula. The workshop will end with a project planning clinic, whereby faculty can discuss proposed projects.
All University of Miami faculty, students, and staff are welcome to attend on Friday, March 4, 12:00-3:30 PM, via Zoom.
Register Now
The goal of the workshop is to train a number of cognitive and cloud practitioners, educators, and students, whose projects and curricula IBM will continue to support through additional targeted education, required cloud services & resources, and various university relations programs. You can familiarize yourself with IBM’s cognitive cloud services by going to the IBM developer website at https://developer.ibm.com. The IBM developer website contains articles, courses, datasets, and tutorials on various IBM technologies, including AI, Analytics, Blockchain.
We look forward to seeing you all at the IBM Workshop!
Tentative Agenda
12:00 Welcome
12:15 IBM CAS program for Academia
12:45 IBM Cloud Platform
1:30 Break
2:00 Data and AI Services
2:45 Project Cliniccial

Free 2-Day Scientific Computing with "R" Workshop 3/3-4
2022-03-03 09:00 - 2022-03-04 16:30 (America/New_York) | Don Soffer Clinical Research Center, 1120 NW 14th St, Miami, FL, 33136, United States
Software Carpentry aims to help researchers get their work done in less time and with less pain by teaching them basic research computing skills. This hands-on workshop will cover basic concepts and tools, including program design, version control, data management, and task automation. Participants will be encouraged to help one another and to apply what they have learned to their own research problems.

Thursday + Friday 3/3-4/22 | 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM Course Hours, Both Days
Registration Now Closed | Syllabus | Pre-workshop Survey
This workshop is free and open to UM Faculty, Staff, and Students.

Who The course is aimed at graduate students and other researchers.
You don’t need to have any previous knowledge of the tools that will be presented at the workshop.

Where This training will take place online and in-person at the University of Miami Medical Campus, Don Soffer CRC Building, 1120 NW 14th Street, 7th Floor, CTSI Research Training Center (Room), Miami FL 33136. (Map | Directions) The instructors will provide you with the information you will need to connect to this meeting.
When March 3-4, 2022 | 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM Add to your Google Calendar.

Instructors

Tim Norris PhD, Data Scientist
Gabriel Odom PhD, Assistant Professor, Chen Lab, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center
Thilani Samarakoon PhD, Biomedical Data Librarian

Helpers

Dana Goodrich, PhD Candidate in Human Genetics and Genomics
Cameron Riopelle, PhD, Data Services Librarian

Requirements Participants must have access to a computer with a Mac, Linux, or Windows operating system (not a tablet, Chromebook, etc.) that they have administrative privileges on. They should have a few specific software packages installed (listed here).
Accessibility We are dedicated to providing a positive and accessible learning environment for all. Please notify the instructors in advance of the workshop if you require any accommodations or if there is anything we can do to make this workshop more accessible to you.
Contact Please email Tim Norris tnorris@miami.edu for more information.
Roles To learn more about the roles at the workshop (who will be doing what), refer to the Workshop FAQ.

Syllabus
The syllabus is available offering Day 1 and Day 2 SCHEDULE, preparation instructions, code of conduct, and pre-event survey.

Data Ethics

As part of this 2-day workshop, a guest speaker will join us for a Special Program in Ethics for Scientific Writing and Coding: Kenneth W. Goodman, PhD, Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy, on “Ethics and Software Standards.”

For more information on what we teach and why, please see our paper “Best Practices for Scientific Computing”.

Sponsored by
CALDER LIBRARY
CIMAS
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
IDSC
THE OFFICE OF THE VICE PROVOST FOR RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP
UM LIBRARIES

Be a Part of the Next Town Hall and Join our User Community 3/1
2022-03-01 16:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Zoom (online)
As a follow-up to the January IDSC Town Hall showcasing our broadening computational resources and services, we invite you to attend another interactive Zoom session. This session will cover the IDSC unit business model and subsidy programs to assist new users and heavy users, plus, we’ll feature some guest users who will discuss their best practices, shared experiences, and recommended processes. Come be a part of our User Community and bring your questions and concerns. You do not need to be an Advanced Computing user to attend. All are welcome.
Hosted again by Dr. Ben Kirtman, we hope you will join us on Tuesday, March 1, 4:00-5:00 PM, via Zoom. Open to all advanced computing users, University of Miami students, staff, and faculty.
Register Now
Catch the Replay of our January Town Hall (Full Story)

You’re Invited to the College of Engineering Research Day 2/25
2022-02-25 08:30 - 14:45 (America/New_York) | College of Engineering, 1251 Memorial Drive, Coral Gables, FL, 33146, United States
The University of Miami College of Engineering is showcasing its innovation in research on Friday, February 25, 2022. Speaker sessions will focus on initiatives in “Engineering Cures for Cancer” along with sessions focused on advanced materials. The poster sessions will focus on engineering solutions to improve our livelihood and directly impact fields like health, technology, climate change, and cybersecurity through engineering. All in-person events are planned for the Gables campus. (Location TBA)
Friday 2/25, 9:00 AM—3:00 PM | REGISTER NOW
Speaker Sessions Agenda
For the full Agenda with list of speakers, click here. Agenda subject to change without notice.
9:00 Welcome | Dean Biswas, Helena Solo-Gabriele, Renee Evans (Poster Judging)
9:15 Speaker Session I: Engineering Cures for Cancer
Moderators: Drs. Ashutosh Agarwal and Stephen Nimer
9:45 Break
10:15 Speaker Session II: Advanced Materials for Manufacturing
Moderators: Drs. Emrah Celik, James Coakley, Luis Ruiz Pestana
11:30-1:00 Break
1:00 Speaker Session III: Advanced Materials in Healthcare
Moderators: Drs. Sakhrat Khizroev and Fabrice Manns
2:15 Student Poster Award Recipients, Closing Adjourn
Helena Solo-Gabriele, GESC Representative, Renee Evans (Poster Awards)
2:45 End
Speaker Sessions planned for virtual and in-person participation. (In-person participation will depend upon University social-distancing requirements at the time of the event.)

Poster Session Agenda
8:30 AM Coffee and Cookies
10:30 AM Poster Session I Set up starts
11:30 AM -1:15 PM Poster Session I with Box Lunches (in-person)
1:00-2:15 PM Poster Take Down
2:15 Student Poster Award Recipients, Closing Adjourn
Helena Solo-Gabriele, GESC Representative, Renee Evans (Poster Awards)
(Poster Session will be either indoors or outdoors depending upon University social-distancing requirements. Location TBA.)
Poster Session organized by the Graduate Engineering Student Council.

For a complete agenda please click here.

VR/AR Association Miami Chapter Launch Event 2/17
2022-02-17 17:30 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Cosford Cinema, 5030 Brunson Drive, Coral Gables, FL, 33146, United States
The VR/AR Association (VRARA) in partnership with the University of Miami’s XR Initiative and Institute for Data Science and Computing (IDSC) will host a Miami Chapter Launch event on February 17, 2022, 5:30-8:00 PM at the University of Miami Cosford Cinema (located on campus at 5030 Brunson Drive, Coral Gables, FL 33146), or you may attend virtually via Zoom.
This event is free and open to the public. The theme of the event is The Intersection of AI and the Metaverse. Guest Speakers will provide presentations and host discussions with the audience on related topics. There will also be a technology showcase.
To register, please visit: Eventbrite.
Guest Speakers

John Cunningham, Head of Government and Aerospace | Unity
John leads Unity’s Government and Aerospace business vertical for the Americas and is the President of the VRARA Central Florida Chapter. John is going to present use cases and trends in the area of digital twins and artificial intelligence.
Dr. Miguel Alonso, Manager, Behavior Authoring and Training-Reinforcement Learning, | Unity
Miguel is a researcher and technologist that is part of the group that develops Unity’s AI and Machine Learning products. Miguel will share insights into the technology and the implications for Digital Twins and the Metaverse.
Lisa Watts, Vice President of Product Marketing and Planning | Magic Leap
The entire industry is anxiously awaiting the availability of the Magic Leap 2. Lisa will talk about MagicLeap’s vision and plans for the future.
Kim Grinfeder, Chair, Department of Interactive Media | University of Miami School of Communication
Kim and his colleagues will share the current programs and key research being conducted at the University and insights into Metaverse trends they are seeing.
Amy Peck, CEO | Endeavor XR
Amy is one of the leading global experts in the XR industry and works with numerous fortune 500 and emerging technology companies, and she is a highly sought-after global speaker. Amy will discuss emerging trends in the industry, help to demystify the Metaverse and the role that XR will play.
Tarja Stephens, President, Miami Chapter | VR/AR Association
The Creator Frontier is working on the future of collective creativity, connection, and social impact in the Metaverse. Tarja will share her work and the plans for the VRARA in Miami.

Co-sponsored by the University of Miami’s XR Initiative and Institute for Data Science and Computing (IDSC).

About the XR Initiative
Extended Reality (XR) refers to combined real and virtual environments. XR systems are immersive technologies that bring physical objects into digital environments and take digital objects into physical reality. XR includes software and hardware used to create virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (MR), augmented reality (AR), and spatial computing. The X-Reality Initiative at the University of Miami helps with access to use this emerging technology, so we can integrate it seamlessly into everyone’s daily life.

Free 2-Day Scientific Computing with Python Workshop 2/17-18
2022-02-17 09:00 - 2022-02-18 16:30 (America/New_York) | Zoom (online)
This 2-day intensive virtual workshop is designed to provide a foundation of basic concepts that all programming depends on, using the general-purpose programming language, Python, as an example. There are no prerequisites and the workshop is designed for computer users from beginners to advanced.

Thursday + Friday 2/17-18/22 | 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM Course Hours, Both Days
Register Now | Syllabus | Pre-workshop Survey
This workshop is free and open to UM Faculty, Staff, and Students.
Software Carpentry aims to help researchers get their work done in less time and with less pain by teaching them basic research computing skills. This hands-on workshop will cover basic concepts and tools, including program design, version control, data management, and task automation. Participants will be encouraged to help one another and to apply what they have learned to their own research problems.

Who The course is aimed at graduate students and other researchers. You don’t need to have any previous knowledge of the tools that will be presented at the workshop.
Where This training will take place online. The instructors will provide you with the information you will need to connect to this meeting.
When Feb. 17-18, 2022. Add to your Google Calendar.

Instructors
Cameron Riopelle, PhD, Data Services Librarian
Tim Norris PhD, Data Scientist

Helper
Thilani Samarakoon PhD, Biomedical Data Librarian

Requirements Participants must have access to a computer with a Mac, Linux, or Windows operating system (not a tablet, Chromebook, etc.) that they have administrative privileges on. They should have a few specific software packages installed (listed here).
Accessibility We are dedicated to providing a positive and accessible learning environment for all. Please notify the instructors in advance of the workshop if you require any accommodations or if there is anything we can do to make this workshop more accessible to you.
Contact Please email Tim Norris tnorris@miami.edu for more information.
Roles To learn more about the roles at the workshop (who will be doing what), refer to the Workshop FAQ

Syllabus
The syllabus is available offering Day 1 and Day 2 SCHEDULE, preparation instructions, code of conduct, and pre-event survey.

Data Ethics

As part of this 2-day workshop, a guest speaker will join us for a Special Program in Ethics for Scientific Writing and Coding: Joanna Johnson, PhD, Writing Program, on “Writing and Reproducibility.” For more information, please see this paper “Best Practices for Scientific Computing“.

Sponsored by
CALDER LIBRARY
CIMAS
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
IDSC
THE OFFICE OF THE VICE PROVOST FOR RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP
UM LIBRARIES

Meet a Data Scientist presents Shrikanth Narayanan 2/9
2022-02-09 16:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Zoom (online)
The purpose of the Meet a Data Scientist lecture series is to introduce our audience to the people behind the data, their lives, interests, career choices, their work, and passion for how they can use data to solve grand challenges in their respective fields. Join us for a talk with Dr. Shri Narayanan, an interdisciplinary engineer-scientist with a focus on human-centered signal processing and machine intelligence with speech and spoken language processing at its core.
Join us as we peer behind the curtain and meet the data scientist behind the data! This lecture series is co-sponsored by the Miami Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) and is free and open to the public.
Register Now | Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022, 4:00-5:00 PM
TALK TITLE: “Human-centered Multimodal Machine Intelligence”
The convergence of sensing, communication, and computing technologies offers tremendous opportunities for continuous information-rich yet unobtrusive multimodal, spatiotemporal characterization of an individual’s behavior and state, and of the environment within which they operate. This in turn is enabling hitherto unimagined possibilities for understanding and supporting various aspects of human-centered applications from health and well-being to job performance.
Recent computational approaches that have leveraged judicious use of both data and knowledge have yielded significant advances in this regard, for example in deriving rich, context-aware information from multimodal signal sources including human speech, language, and videos of behavior. This talk will focus on some of the advances, opportunities, and challenges in gathering such data and creating algorithms for machine processing of such cues. It will highlight some of our ongoing efforts in Behavioral Signal Processing (BSP)—technology and algorithms for quantitatively and objectively understanding typical, atypical, and distressed human behavior—with a specific focus on communicative, affective, and social behavior. The talk will illustrate behavioral machine intelligence applications that contribute to quantifying higher-level, often subjectively described, human behavior in a domain-sensitive fashion. Examples will be drawn from health and wellbeing realms such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, Couples Therapy, Depression, Suicidality, Addiction Counseling, and Workplace Behavior. It will also highlight some of the open technical challenges.
About Shri
Shrikanth “Shri” Narayanan is University Professor and Niki & C. L. Max Nikias Chair in Engineering at the University of Southern California, where he is also a Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Linguistics, Psychology, Neuroscience, Pediatrics, and Otolaryngology—Head & Neck Surgery, Director of the Ming Hsieh Institute, and Research Director of the Information Sciences Institute. Prior to USC he was with AT&T Bell Labs and AT&T Research. His research focuses on human-centered information processing and communication technologies.
Shri is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, the Acoustical Society of America, IEEE, ISCA, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Association for Psychological Science, and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). He is a recipient of several honors including the 2015 Engineers Council’s Distinguished Educator Award, a Mellon award for mentoring excellence, the 2005 and 2009 Best Journal Paper awards from the IEEE Signal Processing Society (serving as Distinguished Lecturer for 2010-11), a 2018 ISCA CSL Best Journal Paper award, ISCA Distinguished Lecturer for 2015-16, Willard R. Zemlin Memorial Lecturer for ASHA in 2017, the Ten Year Technical Impact Award in 2014, and the Sustained Accomplishment Award in 2020 from ACM ICMI. He has published over 900 papers and has been granted eighteen U.S. patents. His research and inventions have led to technology commercialization including through startups he co-founded: Behavioral Signals Technologies focused on the telecommunication services and AI-based conversational assistance industry and Lyssn focused on mental health care delivery, treatment, and quality assurance.
Shrikanth (Shri) Narayanan
University of Southern California, Los Angeles | Signal Analysis and Interpretation Laboratory

Discover all IDSC has to Offer at a Town Hall event 1/13/2022
2022-01-13 16:30 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Zoom (online)
IDSC is broadening its computational resources and services! We invite you to attend a Town Hall meeting to discover all that IDSC offers. Join us online on Thursday, January 13, 2022, for a look at IDSC’s advanced computing resources, systems and data engineering services, workforce development and educational programming, as well as our research focus areas, outreach, events, and engagement opportunities.
The IDSC Advanced Computing service unit business model will be shared, and we’ll introduce our subsidy programs designed to help the heavy supercomputer user as well as the uninitiated.
IDSC is committed to promoting data science to enhance data science understanding within the University’s research community, and offers three grant programs for faculty or students:

Expanding the Use of Collaborative Data Science at UM
Access to IDSC Resources for Early Career Researchers
Bridge Awards for Degree and Program Community

We believe in a collaborative approach that brings together talented minds in multiple disciplines to leverage the University’s state-of-the-art technology. Join us to explore how the U’s powerful resources in data science and computing can help you achieve research, training, and business goals.
Register Now | Thursday 1/13/22, 4:00-5:00 PM
This event is free and open to University of Miami Faculty, Staff, and Students only.

BIG DATA Conference 12/9
2021-12-09 14:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Zoom (online)
Join us for the 6th Annual Big Data Conference on Thursday, December 9, 2021, 2:00-5:00 PM, for an in-depth discussion of creative destruction and the effects of Big Data, blockchain, AI, and real-time analytics on organizational change with some of the top industry leaders in innovation, business, and technology from local, national, and international arenas.
Thursday 12/9, 2-5 PM | Register Now (free)
Big data, artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, real-time analytics, augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR) are profoundly reshaping our organizations, institutions, and society at large. Besides changing the consumer-facing operations of firms, these technologies are changing supply chain design, operations management, human resource management, and product development. Entire new segments of the economy like the gig economy have sprung up. At the global level, these technologies are driving greater market efficiencies forcing companies big and small to adopt these technologies or be left behind. Businesses, nonprofits, health care providers, government agencies, entrepreneurs, and educational institutions all have responded to these changes and redesigned themselves to survive. Indeed, these technologies are ushering in an era of creative destruction.*
Big Data 2021 topics include:

How Big data technologies are disrupting industries
How Big data technologies are creating new opportunities
How Big data technologies is changing the public sector
How to retrain the current workforce for these new challenges
How should educational institutions adjust to ensure that people entering the workforce are trained for the AI-driven economy
How are augmented and virtual reality technologies going to change:

Our homes?
Our entertainment?
Our work?

Will extended reality be a force of good in society?

The Big Data Conference is free and open to the public.

Agenda
2:00 Welcome
2:05 Keynote Speaker Michael Mylrea “Manufacturing in the Metaverse: A Brave New World of Disruptive Innovation in the Era of Pandemic”
2:40 Plenary Speaker: Alex Moura “Big Data in Banking: How the Data and AI Revolution is Changing Financial Services”
3:20 Break
3:30 Panel Discussion: “Transformation of institutions, industries and government by Big Data, AI and Extended Reality technologies” moderated by Nick Tsinoremas
4:20 Guest Speaker: Ashwin Kumar “ANNOVA—Prediction & Prevention of Negative Outcomes”
4:50 Closing Remarks | Q+A

Keynote Speaker
Dr. Michael Mylrea | Resilience
Senior Distinguished Engineer at National Resilience
Fellow for Industrial Cybersecurity at University of Miami IDSC
TOPIC: “Manufacturing in the Metaverse: From Digital Twins to Distributed Ledgers of Vulnerable Things in an Era of Pandemic and Cyberwar” Please join Dr. Mylrea for an exploration of disruptive innovation driving Industry 4.0 opportunities and challenges that are redefining security, manufacturing, and the health ecosystem. This presentation is timely as all modern organizations require a resilient health ecosystem to function. The Covid-19 Pandemic was a grim reminder of our vulnerability as critical ports and transportation ground to a halt, hospitals, and essential services were overwhelmed and critical supply chains and manufacturing were disrupted. While researchers worked to develop a vaccine for a complex, non-linear, evolving biothreat, sophisticated cyber adversaries took advantage of the fog of war during Covid to attack the health ecosystem. An ongoing Cyberwar increasingly targeted healthcare, pharma, and medical device manufacturing, and device supply chains. Ransomware spread through hospital networks, stealthy cyber weapons were launched to steal intellectual property, and misinformation campaigns questioned the viruses source and efficacy of its cure. The following presentation explores how National Resilience, one of the fastest-growing technology companies and biopharma leaders, aims to overcome some of these challenges with disruptive innovation.

Dr. Michael Mylrea is a Distinguished Fellow for Industrial Cybersecurity at the University of Miami IDSC, and a Senior Distinguished Engineer at Resilience, one of the fast-growing technology companies in the US focused on disrupting medicine with innovation. At Resilience, Michael is leading various innovative security architecture and industrial cybersecurity solutions. Dr. Mylrea is a technologist with 18+ years of cybersecurity experience developing innovative solutions and holds 14+ Infosec and Blockchain patents. He led one of the first and largest federally funded blockchain projects that helped introduce blockchain tech to the national lab system. He has launched and led various tech companies and has held CISO, CTO, CPO, and Senior technical positions in industry and government, including, but not limited to: GE, Pacific Northwest National Lab, the U.S. Departments of Energy and Defense, US Cyber Consequences Unit, Harvard Berkman Klein Center, and Cyber Team 7.
Michael has helped influence various standards, regulations, and technology developments through participation in Group of 7, National Security Council, National Science Foundation, National Academy of Science, IEEE, NDIA, AAAI, and NIST panels, consortium, advisor boards (Tenable, CyManII, CARTA, Rocky Mountain Institute, EC Council and World Business Angels Investment Forum). He frequently keynotes large conferences and workshops such as RSA and IoT World. His work has appeared in news, journal articles, television, and congressional testimony and is frequently cited in technical, industry, and government publications. Dr. Mylrea is a National Science Foundation CyberCorps Scholar alum, completing his Doctorate at George Washington University (GWU) on Cybersecurity. Michael is a recipient of a number of distinguished awards (Fulbright Scholarship, NSF CyberCorps, Rosenthal Fellowship, FDD National Security Fellowship, Top 99 Future Leaders Award). Michael speaks Hebrew, Arabic, Spanish, and Portuguese and is proficient in auditing various computer languages.

Plenary Speaker
Alex Moura, MBA | Mastercard
Vice President, Insights and Analytics
Advisors Product Management
TOPIC: “Big Data in Banking: How the Data and AI Revolution is Changing Financial Services” | The advent of the internet and the mobile phone brought convenience to consumers and allowed the “digitization” of many traditional products and services. Along with it, came the availability of rich and abundant data that can help financial institutions to improve services, increase customer convenience, and decrease costs. In this presentation, Alex shares his perspective on the opportunities and challenges brought by big data and data science to the banking industry.

Alex Moura is a technologist with a strong passion for innovation and for creating new products that allow people to access new experiences and buy things they need, want, and love. He currently leads Insights and Analytics in Latin America. Main responsibilities include product management of Data Platforms and Advanced Analytics for Mastercard’s Data and Services Division. Alex is recognized as a thought leader in Data Analytics, Digital Transformation, and Innovation. He is also a frequent speaker and panelist at industry conferences and has delivered keynotes on these topics for audiences in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
Alex started his career as an Officer in the Brazilian Navy and spent a number of years with Ernst & Young’s Technology and Security Risk Services Group advising clients across a broad spectrum of industries and geographies. Prior to joining Mastercard, Alex led Royal Caribbean Cruises’ Group responsible for business intelligence and payments.
Alex is a Brazilian Naval Academy graduate and holds an MBA from the University of Miami School of Business. A native of Brazil, Alex currently resides in Miami, Florida.

Panel
“Transformation of Institutions, Industries, and Government by Big Data, AI, and Extended Reality (XR) Technologies”

Moderator
Nick Tsinoremas, PhD | University of Miami
Director, Institute for Data Science and Computing (IDSC)
Vice Provost for Research Computing and Data
As Vice Provost for Research Computing and Data at the University of Miami, Dr. Tsinoremas is the Director of the Institute for Data Science and Computing (IDSC). IDSC was established to catalyze data-intensive research in fields ranging from medicine to earth sciences, urban planning, digital humanities, and business. Before joining the University of Miami, Dr. Tsinoremas served as Head of Informatics and Chemoinformatics at The Scripps Research Institute-Florida. As Director of Computational Genomics and Genomic Discovery at Rosetta/Merck, prior to Scripps, he directed the project that combined data science and computational approaches with gene expression profiling, high throughput screening, and genetics to discover, prioritize, and define new drug targets and novel therapeutics. Prior to working for Merck Research Laboratories (MRL)/Rosetta, Tsinoremas was the Vice-President of Genomics at DoubleTwist Inc., where he determined the scientific direction and development of DoubleTwist’s bioinformatics applications and databases. At that time, he also led a team that developed the first annotation of the Human Genome.
Dr. Tsinoremas also holds faculty appointments in the Miller School of Medicine and the College of Arts and Sciences.
The focus of Dr. Tsinoremas’ research is on combining data science and computational approaches in informatics, digital health, clinical genomics, molecular biology, computational biology, and drug discovery to foster collaborative interdisciplinary projects.
Dr. Tsinoremas received his B.A. in Chemistry from the University of Athens, Greece, and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Leeds, UK.

Panelists

Lt. Joel Bello, Esq. | Miami-Dade Police Department
Homeland Security Bureau
Lieutenant Joel Bello, Esq., is an eighteen-year veteran of the Miami-Dade Police Department. During his time he has served as a detective in the Narcotics Bureau, Tactical Narcotics Team (TNT); detective and supervisor in the Robbery Intervention Detail (RID); supervisor in the Gang Street Section, and coordinator for the Multi-Agency Gang Task Force; commander for the Special Response Team (SRT); commander for the Priority Response Team; and is now supervising investigations in the Homeland Security Bureau.
In 2019, Lieutenant Bello graduated from St. Thomas College of Law and is a practicing attorney. Mr. Bello is an adjunct professor at St. Thomas College of law teaching Cybercrimes Law and Criminal Procedure. He also holds a Master’s degree in performance psychology and has implemented mental skills training into tactical police training.

Diego Berta | Magic Leap
Vice President of Business Development
Coming from a family of engineers and craftsmen in Argentina’s wine country, Diego was born with an appreciation for raw materials and the artisans that turn rough elements into amazing works of mechanical or fine arts. For him, the startup world is no different. He prides himself in having an innate ability to find rare visionaries and entrepreneurs and then help them turn rough ideas into unique and highly valuable companies.
Diego is a well-versed deal maker in the realm of advanced technology. As the Vice President of Business Development of Magic Leap, considered one of the world’s most innovative technology startups, Diego is responsible for curating Magic Leap’s strategic partnerships and next generation technologies.

Prior to Magic Leap, Diego served as Sr. Manager of Business Development of MAKO Surgical where he was responsible for qualifying and securing intellectual and financial capital for core technology projects. After a successful 9 year run of innovation in surgical robotics and numerous awards, the company was acquired for $1.7B.Diego started his career in the technology world at ThinkEquity, a boutique investment bank that specialized in the medical robotics space.
Diego’s greatest accomplishment in life is having found his wife of 17 years and being the father of two brilliant and loving children.

Margaret Brisbane | Miami Dade County
CIO/Director of the Information Technology Department
Margaret Brisbane is the CIO/Director of the Information Technology Department for Miami Dade County. In her current role, she is responsible for leading a team of IT professionals in servicing the technology needs of the County. The primary IT pillars are Security, Platforms, and Applications along with Administration to support all operations. The team provides support to all County Departments including enterprise solutions for Financial, Payroll, Human Resources, Public Safety, Legislative, Commerce, and the PeopleSoft systems. The team also supports document and asset management and geospatial systems as well as major technology projects, including, but not limited to Criminal Justice, Permitting and Code Enforcement, Radio, and INFORMS.
Prior to joining the County, Margaret served as Director of Service Delivery for Burger King Corporation. During her 20-year career, she led the Telecommunications Center of Excellence for various Diageo brands, worked on restaurant systems support as well as Point of Sales system implementation for various domestic and international locations.

Throughout her career, Margaret has been actively involved in the community and professional organizations. She is currently a member of the Technology Committee for both the Greater Chamber of Commerce and the Beacon Council. She served as co-chair for the Community Services Committee for the FIU Alumni Circle and is a co-chair for the annual United Way Women’s Leadership breakfast. She is the Chair of the IT Women Virtual Mentoring Program and a mentor to one of the scholarship recipients. She established a mentoring program between the County’s IT department and a local high school IT Academy, currently in its 10th year. She was the Chair for the 2007-2008 Greater Chamber of Commerce Leadership Miami Program and was a member of the Executive Committee for seven years. She was instrumental in developing and chairing the Chambers Youth Leadership program for three years. She has also participated as a mentor to several FIU business students to continually innovate and build their technical and business skills. She has participated on the eMerge Executive Committee and leads the effort for the County’s booth at the annual conference.Margaret holds a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in International Marketing from Florida International University and a Master of Business Administration with Honors from Nova Southeastern University. She also received a certificate in Executive Leadership from Harvard University. She received the Torch Award from FIU and was name Female Technology Leader of the Year by the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. She recently received the “Ones to Watch” award from the CIO Executive Council.

Matthew Denesuk, PhD | Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
Senior Vice President, Data Analytics & AI
Matt is the Senior Vice President of Data Analytics & AI at Royal Caribbean Cruises in Miami, Florida. Matt is overseeing the inception, development, and deployment of data-driven and AI-based capabilities across the company. He previously was Chief Data Science Officer, and a founder, of Noodle.ai, which provides AI-as-a-Service to enterprises and industrial firms. Prior to that, he was the Chief Data Science Officer and GM of the Data Science of Excellence at General Electric. He also led Smarter Planet Modeling & Analytics at IBM Research and, was a Partner in IBM’s Venture Capital Group. Matt has BS, MS, and PhD Degrees from MIT and the University of Arizona.

Rodolphe e-Khoury, PhD | University of Miami
Dean, School of Architecture
Partner, Khoury Levit Fong (KLF)
Rodolphe el-Khoury is Dean of the University of Miami School of Architecture. Trained as both a historian and a designer, he divides his time between scholarship, research, and practice. He is the author of numerous books on architecture and urbanism, including See Through Ledoux; Architecture Theatre, and the Pursuit of Transparency; Monolithic Architecture; and Figures: Essays on Contemporary Architecture. Dean el-Khoury leads RAD-UM, a research lab for embedded technology and robotics aiming at enhancing responsiveness and resilience in buildings and smart cities. The work of his firm, Khoury Levit Fong (KLF), has won international awards. Dean el-Khoury’s work has been featured in national and international media outlets that cut across disciplines ranging from WIRED Magazine to the Wall Street Journal to the Space Channel to BBC World. He has shared his work through teaching, visiting professorships, and lectures at dozens of institutions in the U.S. and abroad.

Arthur Kordon | Kordon Consulting, LLC
CEO
Dr. Arthur Kordon is a CEO of Kordon Consulting LLC and an internationally recognized pioneer in applying advanced analytics and artificial intelligence in the industry with more than 30 years of experience. He is currently consulting several global corporations to introduce and use analytical solutions and artificial intelligence in their business. His current projects include developing cognitive models of the Enterprise, preventive maintenance, energy cost reduction analysis, space analytics. In his previous position as Advanced Analytics Leader at Dow Chemical, Dr. Kordon has successfully applied advanced analytics solutions in various business problems in forecasting, business cycles analysis, price elasticity analysis, etc. He successfully introduced several novel technologies for improved manufacturing and new product design based on artificial intelligence, such as robust inferential sensors, operating discipline, and accelerated fundamental model building. He was granted a US patent and has published more than 70 papers and 16 book chapters in applied artificial intelligence and advanced analytics. He is the author of two books Applying Data Science and Applying Computational Intelligence, published by Springer. He is a co-author of the book Applied Data Mining for Forecasting, published by SAS Press.

Guest Speaker

Ashwin Kumar | Jackson Health System
Associate Vice President
TOPIC: “ANNOVA—Prediction & Prevention of Negative Outcomes” Accelerated Neural Network for Opportunity & Variance Analysis is a complex cumulative compilation of discrete data points through a patient’s progression of care to predict a defined set of negative outcomes, both clinical and financial, and how to prevent them.
Ashwin Kumar is the Associate Vice President of Revenue Cycle Management, Decision Support Systems (DSS) and Department of Research, Opportunity, Innovation & Data Sciences (DROIDS) at Jackson Health System, a nonprofit academic medical system dedicated to building the health of the community by providing world-class care to the residents of Miami, Florida. He received a post-graduate degree with a major in Finance and a minor in Systems. Prior to joining Jackson Health System, he worked at Deloitte Consulting in the Healthcare Providers segment under the Strategy & Operations practice. Ashwin is an innovative executive with 20 years of experience in healthcare, creating complex tech-enabled solutions to drive process improvement and growth in all Revenue Cycle areas, including Health Information Management, Patient Access, Clinical Documentation Improvement, Revenue Integrity, and Denials Management. His solutions exhibit successful uses of data extraction, predictive modeling, data intellectualizing, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence to drive process improvement, improve revenue, reduce operating expenses, prioritize actions and prevent errors in various areas of hospital operations.

Meet a Data Scientist presents Ching-Hua Chuan 12/8
2021-12-08 12:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York) | Zoom (online)
The Meet a Data Scientist series is a chance to get up close and personal with top-level data science professionals. Join us for a talk with Prof. Ching-Hua Chuan whose research interests include artificial intelligence, machine learning, and music information retrieval with a focus on human-centered computing.
The purpose of the Meet a Data Scientist lecture series is to introduce our audience to the people behind the data, their lives, interests, career choices, their work, and passion for how they can use data to solve grand challenges in their respective fields. Join us as we peer behind the curtain and meet the data scientists behind the data! This lecture series is co-sponsored by the Miami Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) and is free and open to the public.
Registration Link forthcoming | Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021, 12:00-1:00 PM
TALK TITLE: Human-Machine Collaboration and Communication
One of the key controversies regarding AI centers on how AI systems and automation will replace humans. In this talk, Dr. Chuan will share her various interdisciplinary projects that highlight the collaboration between human and machine. As a computer scientist by training, Dr. Chuan’s work focuses on creating new algorithms and new ways to represent information and knowledge in different media and interactions, with the goal to create computing systems that are able to (1) understand the semantic meanings in complex data and make accurate interpretations, and (2) interact and collaborate with humans to achieve something no humans or machines can perform alone.
Dr. Chuan uses computational approaches to understand and predict how people perceive various media content, including text, speech, music, video, and movement. Specifically, this talk will focus on her projects in three key fields: music, education, and communication. Focusing on music information retrieval, she has created computational tools to inspire creativity in music composition from amateur musicians. She is currently working with a group of faculty across various disciplines at UM to create a smart ecosystem that provides personalized music experience for mood regulation. For education applications, she has worked with scholars in deaf education to create an app that recognizes American Sign Language to assist families with children who are deaf or hard of hearing to learn sign language together. In the field of communication, she used deep learning to create a conversational agent (i.e., chatbot) that delivers personalized, user-friendly information about clinical trials to patients and their families. Most recently, she has developed a mobile app intervention to help users form eco-friendly habits.
As Connolly argued in his recent article–Why Computing Belongs within the Social Sciences–“computing as a discipline is becoming progressively more entangled within the human and social lifeworld.” Through this talk, Dr. Chuan aims to inspire more interdisciplinary collaborations that focus on the nexus of human-centered computing, interactive communication, and design.

About Ching-Hua
Ching-Hua Chuan is an Assistant Professor of Interactive Media at the University of Miami. She received her PhD in computer science from the University of Southern California Viterbi School of Engineering, and her BS and MS degrees in electrical engineering from National Taiwan University.
She has served on the program committees of many organizations including AAAI and the International Society of Music Information Retrieval (ISMIR).
Dr. Chuan was the recipient of the best new investigator paper award at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing in 2010. Her interdisciplinary work with communication scholars has applied computational approaches to social science research and has won the top faculty paper award from the Public Relations Society of America (2018) and the American Academy of Advertising research fellowship (2020).
Through her collaborations with scholars across different fields, she aims to augment the power of computing for social change and adopts an interdisciplinary approach to studying the impacts of technological advances, from mixed reality to artificial intelligence, on society.

IDSC Fellows 2021-2022 Launch Event Announces Chosen Fellows 12/7
2021-12-07 15:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | Zoom (online)
The Institute for Data Science and Computing (IDSC) is pleased to announce the IDSC Fellows for the 2021-2022 academic year. The vision of the IDSC Fellows Program is to inspire a new generation of leaders in data science to cross the traditional boundaries between disciplines.
IDSC joins with University faculty to mentor IDSC Fellows on how to best utilize University’s cutting-edge advanced computing resources in their proposed research projects.
This is a prestigious designation awarded each year to two undergraduate students (sophomore level or above), and two graduate students. Join us for the announcement of the 2021-2022 fellows and hear their project proposals. This event is free and open to UM Faculty/Staff/Students.
Tuesday, 12/7/2021 3:00 – 4:00PM | Register Now

Guest Speaker John C Havens: Responsible Innovation and Ethically Aligned Design 12/3
2021-12-03 12:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York) | Zoom (online)
IDSC’s Data Ethics + Society Program in collaboration with the Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy Dialogues in Research Ethics (DRE) Series is pleased to host guest speaker John C. Havens, Executive Director of The IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems (A/IS).
Register Now | December 3, 2021 | 12:00-1:00 PM via Zoom
The IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of A/IS has two primary outputs—the creation and iteration of a body of work known as ”Ethically Aligned Design: A Vision for Prioritizing Human Well-being with Autonomous and Intelligent Systems” and, the recommendation of ideas for Standards Projects focused on prioritizing ethical considerations in A/IS. Currently, there are thirteen approved Standards Working Groups and two completed Standards in the IEEE P7000™ series. John was responsible for: the initial ideation, framing, and execution for bringing together the more than seven hundred global thought leaders to create Ethically Aligned Design; was Founding Chair of IEEE 7000 and IEEE 7010 and helped launch more than a dozen other IEEE Standards Working Groups focused on AI, AI Ethics, AI Governance, and AI Procurement; and continues to work on staff at the IEEE Standards Association to help further design, proliferate, and standardize the concepts of human-centric, applied ethical, values-driven design for Responsible Innovation of all technologies.
John is also Executive Director for The Council on Extended Intelligence (CXI) that was created to ensure society prioritizes people, planet, and prosperity by promoting responsible participant design, control of data rights, and holistic metrics of prosperity. CXI is a program founded by The IEEE Standards Association and MIT whose members include representatives from the EU Parliament, the UK House of Lords, and dozens of global policy, academic, and business leaders.

Talk Title: “Responsible Innovation and Ethically Aligned Design” Since 2015 IEEE has created a globally utilized suite of principles, programs, and standards working to redefine Responsible Innovation for the algorithmic age. Based on their landmark publication, Ethically Aligned Design, a three hundred page treatise on human-centric, applied ethics created by over seven hundred global experts, IEEE has also released two standards in their 7000 series formally connecting socio-technical considerations to traditional systems engineering, which are:

IEEE 7000™-2021: IEEE Standard Model Process for Addressing Ethical Concerns During System Design and
IEEE 7010™-2020: IEEE Recommended Practice for Assessing the Impact of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems on Human Well-Being.

Serving as a keyframing for any AI products, services, or systems development, these two standards help users design and release technology that is human-centric and aligned via methodologies that provably honor people’s values while prioritizing human wellbeing in concert with environmental sustainability. IEEE has also recently created the Certified AI Ethics conformance mark/program as a way to help organizations move from principles to practice to provide overt accountability and trust with end users and all stakeholders in their design process.

Follow John on LinkedIn. John currently has over ninety citations on Research Gate and dozens of articles for outlets such as The Guardian, Quartz, IEEE Spectrum, and Mashable.

Special Guest Lecture on Visual Inference with Claus Ekstrøm 12/1
2021-12-01 16:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Richter Library, 1300 Memorial Drive, Coral Gables, Florida, 33146, United States
Join us for a special guest lecture (either in person or virtually) featuring Claus Ekstrøm, professor and vice-chair at the Section of Biostatistics, University of Copenhagen. His primary research interests are centered on developing methods for the analysis of high-dimensional data problems and causal discovery. He’s authored two books on statistics and is frequently used as an expert on statistics in Danish news media. Claus has been a grumpy old man from a young age.
Register Now | Wednesday 12/1/2021, 4:00-5:00 PM
This is a hybrid event: In person at Otto G. Richter Library, CR 343 | or online via Zoom.
Title of the lecture: “Validation of visual inference methods in statistics by use of deep learning”
When does inspecting a certain graphical plot allow for an investigator to reach the right statistical conclusion? Visual inference is commonly used for various tasks in statistics—including model diagnostics and exploratory data analysis – and though attractive due to its intuitive nature, the lack of available methods for validating plots is a major drawback.
We propose a new validation method for visual inference. Our method trains deep neural networks to distinguish between plots simulated under two different data-generating mechanisms (null or alternative), and we use the classification accuracy as a technical validation score (TVS). The TVS measures the information content in the plots, and TVS values can be used to compare different plots or different choices of data-generating mechanisms, thereby providing a meaningful scale that new visual inference procedures can be validated against.
We apply the method to three popular diagnostic plots for linear regression, namely the scatter plot, the quantile-quantile plot, and the residual plot. We consider various types and degrees of misspecification, as well as different within-plot sample sizes. Our method produces TVSs that increase with increasing sample size and decrease with increasing difficulty, and hence the TVS is a meaningful measure of validity.

Lecture by Elias Stephan: HP Omnicept, New Era in VR Research 11/29
2021-11-29 14:00 - 14:30 (America/New_York) | Zoom (online)
The IDSC Creative Computing program is pleased to present Elias Stephan, Head of Business Development at HP Inc. XR Global Business Unit on Monday, November 29 from 2:00-2:30 PM. Elias Stephan has 24 cumulative years of service with HP Inc., and has held a variety of roles in and outside of HP: From leading business development, globally, for the HP XR solutions and HP Immersive Computing in the Americas, to directing GTM for Hewlett Packard Enterprise Flexible Capacity, running the Personal Systems business overseas, and driving channel sales in Canada. Elias holds a BBA from the American University of Beirut. He played soccer on the Lebanese National team and now lives in The Bay Area, California, with his wife and son.
Register Now | Monday 11/29 2:00-2:30 PM
TALK TITLE: “HP Omnicept, New Era in VR Research”
HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments, and society. With the broadest technology portfolio, HP delivers solutions for customers’ most complex challenges in every region of the world and gives businesses new ways to create, design, experience, and train with VR. Tune in to this virtual lecture for insights into the latest advances in virtual reality as a training tool. Learn about the increased efficacy of training in VR and how a combination of machine learning and sensor fusion technologies can be leveraged to create more intelligent and adaptable VR applications. Elias will discuss how companies are taking advantage of revolutionary innovations to get the most out of training experiences.
In this online session, you will learn:

The benefits and applications of training with immersive technology
How data-driven insights can enable more effective VR training
VR use-cases and applications for [learning and development]

Drs. Yelena Yesha and Pierre-François d’Haese Speak at FDA AI/ML Meeting 11/29
2021-11-29 11:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | Zoom (online)
“Take10: Towards a Novel Ecosystem for Transparent Integration of AI in Clinical Flow” is a presentation by Dr. Yelena Yesha and Dr. Pierre-François d’Haese on the basis of a novel ecosystem developed between the West Virginia University Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute and the University of Miami Institute for Data Science and Computing (IDSC).
This Consortium brings together multidisciplinary expertise in large radiology systems, medical imaging analytics, large clinical data management, ML/AI, radiomics, real-world evidence collection, and regulatory access to extensive clinical flow and data.
Monday, November 29, 11:00 AM ET via Zoom for Government
Abstract
Artificial intelligence (AI)- and machine learning (ML)-based technologies have the potential to transform healthcare by deriving new and essential insights from the vast amount of data generated during the delivery of healthcare every day. Example high-value applications include earlier disease detection, more accurate diagnosis, identification of new observations or patterns on human physiology, and development of personalized diagnostics and therapeutics.
One of the most significant benefits of AI/ML in software resides in its ability to learn from real-world use and experience and its capability to improve its performance. The ability for AI/ML software to learn from real-world feedback (training) and improve its performance (adaptation) makes these technologies uniquely situated among software as a medical device (SaMD) and a rapidly expanding area of research and development.
While the FDA has made significant strides in developing appropriately tailored policies for SaMD to ensure the safe and effective technologies reach users, we believe that the next paradigm for device regulation needs to be ready for adaptive AI/ML technologies, which have the potential to adapt and optimize device performance in real-time to improve healthcare for patients continuously. Such change requires an approach based on a new technological ecosystem allowing for continuous testing and following of AI-based devices that facilitates a rapid product improvement cycle and allows these devices to improve continually while providing adequate safeguards.
The framework is based on three pillars:

Seamless access of de-identified clinical data from radiology and medical records allowing for preliminary training of novel analytics models
Low footprint compliant integration of AI models in the radiological clinical flow
Gathering of information and monitoring of performances in conjunction with radiologists and clinical professionals.

Drs. Yesha and d’Haese will conclude with the presentation of opportunities of such systems to support continuous and AI-based regulatory frameworks.

About Dr. Yelena Yesha | UM IDSC
At the University of Miami, Dr. Yelena Yesha is the Knight Foundation Endowed Chair of Data Science and AI at the Institute for Data Science and Computing (IDSC). At IDSC, Dr. Yesha is also the Innovation Officer and Head of International Relations. In this role, Dr. Yesha assists faculty in engaging government and industrial partners to collaborate with the University and consults with faculty on developing research ideas into innovations.
Dr. Yesha was the Founding Director of the National Science Foundation Center for Accelerated Real Time Analytics (CARTA), an NSF-funded Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) that aims to develop long-term partnerships among industry, academia, and government. CARTA partners with Rutgers University New Brunswick, North Carolina State University, the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), Tel Aviv University, and the University of Miami.
Dr. Yesha received her B.Sc. degrees in Computer Science and in Applied Mathematics from York University, Toronto, Canada, and her M.Sc. degree and Ph.D. degree in Computer Science from The Ohio State University She has published 11 books as author or editor, and more than 200 papers in prestigious refereed journals and refereed conference proceedings, and she has been awarded external funding in a total amount exceeding 45 million dollars. She is currently working with leading industrial companies and government agencies on new innovative technology in the areas of blockchains, cybersecurity, and big data analytics with applications to electronic commerce, climate change, and digital healthcare. Dr. Yesha is a fellow of the IBM Centre for Advanced Studies.

About Dr. Pierre-François d’Haese | WVU RNI
Dr. d’Haese is a serial entrepreneur and faculty at the intersection of data analytics and medicine. Most recently, Dr. d’Haese serves as the CEO of Neurotargeting and as the Director of Digital Health and Analytics at the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute (RNI), an institution focused on the study of human memory and memory diseases. Dr. d’Haese defined the Institute’s digital health vision and analytics, leading a team of multidisciplinary engineers and scientists to build the next generation of AI-driven clinical diagnosis and intervention tools. Dr. d’Haese is an Associate Professor in NeuroRadiology and Computer Science and Elec. Engineering.
Prior to the RNI, Dr. d’Haese started and advised numerous MedTech startups while pursuing an academic path in parallel. Among other projects, Dr. d’Haese built cloud-based medical imaging analytics pipelines to foster discoveries for neurodegenerative disease across academic centers, published on neurodegenerative pathologies such as Parkinson’s or focused ultrasound brain-blood-barrier opening for Alzheimer’s, and developed novel neurosurgical software systems for computer-assisted intervention for DBS and Epilepsy.

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2-Day Scientific Computing with R Workshop 11/18-19
2021-11-18 09:00 - 2021-11-19 16:30 (America/New_York) | Zoom (online)
This 2-day intensive online workshop is designed to provide foundational concepts that all programming depends on, using the R statistical computing platform as an example. There are no prerequisites and the workshop is designed for computer users from beginners to advanced.

Thursday & Friday, November 18-19, 2021 | 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM Course Hours, Both Days
Register Now | Syllabus
This workshop is free and open to UM Faculty, Staff, and Students.
Software Carpentry aims to help researchers get their work done in less time and with less pain by teaching them basic research computing skills. This hands-on workshop will cover basic concepts and tools, including program design, version control, data management, and task automation. Participants will be encouraged to help one another and to apply what they have learned to their own research problems.
Data Ethics As part of this 2-day workshop, guest speaker Kenneth W. Goodman, PhD, Director of the UM Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy will join us for a special program on Ethics for Scientific Writing and Coding, titled “Ethics and Software Standards.”
For more information on what we teach and why, please see our paper “Best Practices for Scientific Computing”.
Who The course is aimed at graduate students and other researchers. You don’t need to have any previous knowledge of the tools that will be presented at the workshop.
Where This training will take place online. The instructors will provide you with the information you will need to connect to this meeting.
When Nov 18-29, 2021, 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM Course Hours, Both Days | Add to your Google Calendar.

Instructors
Tim Norris PhD, Data Scientist
Cameron Riopelle, PhD, Data Services Librarian

Helpers
Thilani Samarakoon PhD, Biomedical Data Librarian
Cameron Hallet, Marine Science/Computer Science Double Major
Gabriel Odom PhD, Assistant Professor, Chen Lab, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center

Requirements Participants must have access to a computer with a Mac, Linux, or Windows operating system (not a tablet, Chromebook, etc.) that they have administrative privileges on. They should have a few specific software packages installed.
Accessibility We are dedicated to providing a positive and accessible learning environment for all. Please notify the instructors in advance of the workshop if you require any accommodations or if there is anything we can do to make this workshop more accessible to you.
Contact Please email Tim Norris tnorris@miami.edu for more information.
Roles To learn more about the roles at the workshop (who will be doing what), refer to the Workshop FAQ

Syllabus

The syllabus is available offering Day 1 and Day 2 SCHEDULE, preparation instructions, code of conduct, and pre-event survey.

A second 2-day session on Python will be held on December 2-3, 2021.

Meet a Data Scientist presents Luis Ruiz Pestana 11/16
2021-11-16 16:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Zoom (online)
The Meet a Data Scientist series is a chance to get up close and personal with top-level data science professionals. Join us for a talk with Dr. Luis Ruiz Pestana, an expert in molecular modeling and simulation whose research is focused on understanding the amazing properties of nanostructured materials.
The purpose of the Meet a Data Scientist lecture series is to introduce our audience to the people behind the data, their lives, interests, career choices, their work, and passion for how they can use data to solve grand challenges in their respective fields. Join us as we peer behind the curtain and meet the data scientists behind the data! This lecture series is co-sponsored by the Miami Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) and is free and open to the public.
Register Now | Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021, 4:00-5:00 PM
TALK TITLE: “Can data science help us understand the laws of nature?”
During the last decade, data science has had a tremendous impact on a variety of industries ranging from technology companies to marketing or finance. Only recently have data-driven approaches begun to be applied to solve problems in the physical sciences. Furthermore, the scientific community is divided as to whether black-box approaches can help us better understand the world around us. In this talk, I will overview some hard problems in physics, materials science, and chemistry, where data-driven methods may be our only hope to make progress. I will also discuss the enticing possibility of combining physical simulations—a potentially unlimited source of big data—with data science approaches to tackle persistent challenges in materials science and engineering.
About Luis
Dr. Ruiz Pestana has been an Assistant Professor in the Civil, and Architectural Engineering Department at the University of Miami since 2019. He obtained his PhD in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from Northwestern University in 2015, where he made important contributions to the areas of nanomechanics, self-assembly, and selective molecular transport in peptide nanotubes, as well as developed mesoscale models to study the mechanical properties of large-scale multilayer graphene assemblies. After his PhD, he became a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where he used quantum mechanical simulation methods to investigate nanoconfinement effects on chemical reactivity.
Currently, he uses physics-based multiscale simulation techniques and data-driven approaches to investigate the unusual properties of nanostructured materials. The ultimate aim of his research is to discover and design advanced nanomaterials that can tackle persistent societal challenges, from sustainable infrastructure to clean energy.

DATA CITIZENS Lecture Series presents renowned Radiologist Dr. Eliot Siegel 11/10
2021-11-10 16:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Zoom (online)
Join us on Wednesday, November 10, 2021, 4:00-500 PM, for a “Data Citizens: A Distinguished Lecture Series” talk featuring Dr. Eliot Siegel, Professor and Vice Chair of Research Information Systems at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, and Chief of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine for the Veterans Affairs Maryland Health Care System, both in Baltimore, MD.
TALK TITLE: “AI and the Presumed Demise of Radiologists”
Paraphrasing Mark Twain’s famous quote, “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated,” predictions made during the past half a dozen years about the demise of “Radiologist” as a profession have been made with alarming frequency. Geoffrey Hinton, one of the “fathers” of Deep Learning stated that “They should stop training Radiologists now.” Andrew Ng, Professor of Computer Science at Stanford, declared that it would be easier to replace a Radiologist than his personal assistant. Ezekiel Emmanuel proclaimed in the New England Journal of Medicine that, Radiologists, as a profession, could cease to exist in the next few years and that AI was the greatest threat to the practice. A half a dozen years later, it has become obvious that those predictions made by some of the most acclaimed “experts” in Computer Science and Medicine got it completely wrong. This talk will explore the fascinating, daunting, and yet tantalizing challenges associated with the implementation of AI in clinical practice for Diagnostic Imaging and will discuss the hype, reality, and future of Deep Learning for Diagnostic Imaging.
Register Now | Wednesday, 11/10 4:00-5:00 PM
About Data Citizens
Data Citizens: A Distinguished Lecture Series is an ongoing course of in-depth talks by experts in the field of data science on a wide variety of topics including data visualization, big data, artificial intelligence, and predictive analytics. This lecture series is free and open to the public.
About Eliot Siegel
IDSC is pleased to welcome Dr. Siegel as a Distinguished Visiting Fellow for the group on AI for Radiology.
Dr. Siegel also has adjunct appointments at the undergraduate level at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), in the department of computer science and at the University of Maryland College Park (UMCP) in the department of biomedical engineering. He teaches at the fellow, resident, medical student, undergraduate and high school levels. Dr. Siegel has been mentor/advisor and Ph.D. and Master’s thesis faculty for hundreds of students at all these levels during his career.
As Chief of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine for the Veterans Affairs Maryland Healthcare System, Dr. Siegel is responsible for medical imaging within what is referred to as VISN 5, which includes four medical centers in West Virginia and the Washington DC VA Medical Center, as well as those in Maryland. Dr. Siegel’s responsibilities at the local level include administration of the imaging department and, his work as a clinical radiologist with a subspecialty in Nuclear Medicine. At the regional level, Dr. Siegel has responsibility for multiple VA hospitals, and, at the national level, Dr. Siegel has been involved in policymaking in diagnostic imaging, but more specifically in digital imaging and digital information systems.
Under his guidance, the Baltimore VA became the first filmless healthcare enterprise in the world in 1993. He has written over 300 articles/book chapters about PACS and digital imaging and a wide variety of other topics in medical imaging, and, has edited numerous books on the topic, including Filmless Radiology and Security Issues in the Digital Medical Enterprise. Dr. Siegel has also participated in a wide variety of roles including Principal Investigator on many NIH, other government agencies, and industrial grants. He has presented talks at the International level (most often as keynote speaker) and has given over 1,000 talks at grand rounds, symposia, and international conferences around the world. He currently serves on a dozen editorial boards.
Dr. Siegel has won numerous awards at the University of Maryland including medical school mentor of the year. He has been named as overall Radiology Researcher of the Year and Educator of the year in a competition that was international. Dr. Siegel has also been selected by the editorial board of Medical Imaging as one of the top radiologists in the US on multiple occasions.
Dr. Siegel worked at the National Cancer Institute where he created The Cancer Imaging Archive (TCIA), the Annotation and Image Mark-up “standard” and other initiatives. He was symposium chairman for the SPIE Medical Imaging Meeting, served as chair of Publications for SIIM (Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine) and is a fellow by the ACR (American College of Radiology) and SIIM. He served as chairman of the RSNA’s (Radiological Society of North America) Medical Imaging Resource Committee. Dr. Siegel also worked with the IBM “Jeopardy” team as a medical advisor and has worked with IBM, subsequently, on a variety of projects in natural language processing, the electronic medical record, and medical image interpretation. He is currently co-chair of the SIIM Conference on Machine Intelligence in Medical Imaging (C-MIMI). His areas of interest and responsibility at both the local and national levels include digital imaging and PACS, telemedicine, the electronic medical record, and informatics and AI in medicine.
Dr. Siegel is often interviewed via print or video media for his opinions on many topics in diagnostic imaging, but with a focus on digital imaging technologies. He is sought out as a source for prediction of where medicine—specifically medical imaging—is going in the near and distant future, and as such, is often thought of as a futurist by his colleagues.

2-Day Scientific Computing with Python Workshop 12/2-3
2021-11-09 08:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York)
This 2-day intensive virtual workshop is designed to provide a foundation of basic concepts that all programming depends on, using the general-purpose programming language, Python, as an example. There are no prerequisites and the workshop is designed for computer users from beginners to advanced.

Thursday & Friday, December 2-3, 2021 | 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM Course Hours, Both Days
Register Now | Syllabus
This workshop is free and open to UM Faculty, Staff, and Students.
Software Carpentry aims to help researchers get their work done in less time and with less pain by teaching them basic research computing skills. This hands-on workshop will cover basic concepts and tools, including program design, version control, data management, and task automation. Participants will be encouraged to help one another and to apply what they have learned to their own research problems.

Data Ethics

As part of this 2-day workshop, two guest speakers will join us for a Special Program in Ethics for Scientific Writing and Coding:

Joanna Johnson, PhD, Writing Program, on “Writing and Reproducibility”
Kenneth W. Goodman, PhD, Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy, on “Ethics and Software Standards”

For more information on what we teach and why, please see our paper “Best Practices for Scientific Computing”.
Who The course is aimed at graduate students and other researchers. You don’t need to have any previous knowledge of the tools that will be presented at the workshop.
Where This training will take place online. The instructors will provide you with the information you will need to connect to this meeting.
When Dec 2-3, 2021, 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM Course Hours, Both Days. Add to your Google Calendar.

Instructors
Cameron Hallett, Marine Science/Computer Science Double Major
Dana Goodrich, PhD Candidate in Human Genetics and Genomics
Tim Norris PhD, Data Scientist

Helpers
Cameron Riopelle, PhD, Data Services Librarian
Thilani Samarakoon PhD, Biomedical Data Librarian
Gabriel Odom PhD, Assistant Professor, Chen Lab, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center

Requirements Participants must have access to a computer with a Mac, Linux, or Windows operating system (not a tablet, Chromebook, etc.) that they have administrative privileges on. They should have a few specific software packages installed.
Accessibility We are dedicated to providing a positive and accessible learning environment for all. Please notify the instructors in advance of the workshop if you require any accommodations or if there is anything we can do to make this workshop more accessible to you.
Contact Please email Tim Norris tnorris@miami.edu for more information.
Roles To learn more about the roles at the workshop (who will be doing what), refer to the Workshop FAQ

Syllabus
The syllabus is available offering Day 1 and Day 2 SCHEDULE, preparation instructions, code of conduct, and pre-event survey.

2-Day Scientific Computing with Python Workshop 12/2-3
2021-11-05 08:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York)
This 2-day intensive virtual workshop is designed to provide a foundation of basic concepts that all programming depends on, using the general-purpose programming language, Python, as an example. There are no prerequisites and the workshop is designed for computer users from beginners to advanced.

Thursday & Friday, December 2-3, 2021 | 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM Course Hours, Both Days
Register Now | Syllabus
This workshop is free and open to UM Faculty, Staff, and Students.
Software Carpentry aims to help researchers get their work done in less time and with less pain by teaching them basic research computing skills. This hands-on workshop will cover basic concepts and tools, including program design, version control, data management, and task automation. Participants will be encouraged to help one another and to apply what they have learned to their own research problems.

Data Ethics

As part of this 2-day workshop, two guest speakers will join us for a Special Program in Ethics for Scientific Writing and Coding:

Joanna Johnson, PhD, Writing Program, on “Writing and Reproducibility”
Kenneth W. Goodman, PhD, Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy, on “Ethics and Software Standards”

For more information on what we teach and why, please see our paper “Best Practices for Scientific Computing”.
Who The course is aimed at graduate students and other researchers. You don’t need to have any previous knowledge of the tools that will be presented at the workshop.
Where This training will take place online. The instructors will provide you with the information you will need to connect to this meeting.
When Dec 2-3, 2021, 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM Course Hours, Both Days. Add to your Google Calendar.

Instructors
Cameron Hallet, Marine Science/Computer Science Double Major
Dana Goodrich, PhD Candidate in Human Genetics and Genomics
Tim Norris PhD, Data Scientist

Helpers
Cameron Riopelle, PhD, Data Services Librarian
Thilani Samarakoon PhD, Biomedical Data Librarian
Gabriel Odom PhD, Assistant Professor, Chen Lab, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center

Requirements Participants must have access to a computer with a Mac, Linux, or Windows operating system (not a tablet, Chromebook, etc.) that they have administrative privileges on. They should have a few specific software packages installed.
Accessibility We are dedicated to providing a positive and accessible learning environment for all. Please notify the instructors in advance of the workshop if you require any accommodations or if there is anything we can do to make this workshop more accessible to you.
Contact Please email Tim Norris tnorris@miami.edu for more information.
Roles To learn more about the roles at the workshop (who will be doing what), refer to the Workshop FAQ

Syllabus
The syllabus is available offering Day 1 and Day 2 SCHEDULE, preparation instructions, code of conduct, and pre-event survey.

Meet a Data Scientist presents Kim Grinfeder 10/28
2021-10-28 16:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Zoom (online)
The Meet a Data Scientist series is a chance to get up close and personal with top-level data science professionals. Join us for a talk with Kim Grinfeder, head of the University of Miami School of Communication Interactive Media program.
The purpose of the Meet a Data Scientist lecture series is to introduce our audience to the people behind the data, their lives, interests, career choices, their work, and passion for how they can use data to solve grand challenges in their respective fields. Join us as we peer behind the curtain and meet the data scientists behind the data! This lecture series is co-sponsored by the Miami Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) and is free and open to the public.
Register Now | Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021, 4:00-5:00 PM
TALK TITLE:
XR: From theory to practice
XR technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and spatial computing are quickly proving themselves to be a new medium that is different than anything that came before. This talk will explore the new possibilities offered by these technologies as an area with untapped potential for education, healthcare and social impact.
About Kim grinfeder.com
Kim Grinfeder Is the Director of the Interactive Media Program at the University of Miami. Kim likes to take complex ideas and distill them into clear messaging and visual concepts. His production skill set wavers between design, film, and code with a strong focus on user experience. As an entrepreneur, Kim has successfully established and sold two companies. He joined the faculty at the School of Communication in 2003 and holds a Master’s degree in Interactive Telecommunications from New York University and a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Miami. His work often explores new media tech across the spectrum including immersive storytelling, interactive installations, UI Design, branching narratives & emerging communication technologies. His current research and creative work interests are in producing 360º films, immersive storytelling, and non-linear narratives.

Meet a Data Scientist presents Lindsay Thomas 10/20
2021-10-20 16:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Zoom (online)
The Meet a Data Scientist series is a chance to get up close and personal with top-level data science professionals. Join us for a talk with Professor Lindsay Thomas who teaches at the intersections of cultural and media studies, contemporary US literature, and the digital humanities.
The purpose of the Meet a Data Scientist lecture series is to introduce our audience to the people behind the data, their lives, interests, career choices, their work, and passion for how they can use data to solve grand challenges in their respective fields. Join us as we peer behind the curtain and meet the data scientists behind the data! This lecture series is co-sponsored by the Miami Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) and is free and open to the public.
Register Now | Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021, 4:00-5:00 PM
TALK TITLE: “When Are Texts Data? Views from a Data Humanist”
Data is often considered the domain of scientists and statisticians. But the proliferation of data and databases across nearly all aspects of daily life has made the study and use of data a vital concern for humanists as well. This talk will explore the use of data in the humanities today, focusing especially on literary and cultural studies. We will investigate what it means to think of text as data and learn about how scholars are using data to answer new questions about literary history and contemporary culture. Dr. Thomas will also discuss her research as co-director of WhatEvery1Says, a public humanities project that investigated contemporary public discourse about the humanities. WhatEvery1Says collected more than 9 million news articles and social media posts about the humanities and sciences and collected survey data from over 600 participants on two different university campuses, including the University of Miami. Dr. Thomas will survey project findings and discuss how she became interested in using methods in data science in her research.
About Lindsay lindsaythomas.net
Lindsay Thomas is Assistant Professor of English at the University of Miami. Her research and teaching focus on the digital humanities, cultural studies, and contemporary US literature. She is the author of Training for Catastrophe: Fictions of National Security after 9/11 (2021), a book about how the post-9/11 national security state uses fiction to train people to accept disaster as part of everyday life. From 2017-2021, she was co-director of WhatEvery1Says, a public humanities project that used machine learning to explore the shape of contemporary public discourse on the value of the humanities. She has published articles on post-9/11 national security and contemporary fiction and film, and she is a co-curator of the WhatEvery1Says datasets, which include over 9 million news articles and social media posts about the humanities today.

Meet a Data Scientist presents Athena Hadjixenofontos 9/30
2021-09-30 16:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Zoom (online)
The Meet a Data Scientist series is a chance to get up close and personal with top-level data science professionals. Join us for a talk with Athena Hadjixenofontos, Vice President of Data Science for a major financial institution. The purpose of the Meet a Data Scientist lecture series is to introduce our audience to the people behind the data, their lives, interests, career choices, their work, and passion for how they can use data to solve grand challenges in their respective fields. Join us as we peer behind the curtain and meet the data scientists behind the data! This lecture series is co-sponsored by the Miami Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) and is free and open to the public.
Register Now | Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021, 4:00-5:00 PM
TALK TITLE: Model Development with High Dimensional Data
In some domains, like natural language processing, and genomics, high-dimensional data is inescapable. We will start with some definitions, then dive into the implications of high-dimensionality for exploratory data analysis, visualization, and model building. We will continue with a few examples of how machine learning algorithms react to high-dimensional data, and approaches to mitigate the limitations of modeling in a high-dimensional space. We will then wrap up by considering some examples of novel approaches that expand our toolset.
About Athena
Under Athena’s leadership, the talented data scientists on her team have developed models that improve risk mitigation efforts across business lines and ensure regulatory compliance. Athena got her PhD in statistical genetics from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and went on to complete her postdoctoral training at Yale University. She lives in Phoenix with her neuroscientist wife, their curious toddler, and one very relaxed cat.

Data Citizens Lecture Series presents Santiago Ortiz 9/23
2021-09-23 16:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Zoom (online)
Join us on Thursday, September 23, 2021, 4:00-500 PM, for our continuing lecture series “Data Citizens” featuring Santiago Ortiz. Santiago is the Chief Data Officer at DrumWave. He’s a mathematician, data scientist, interactive visualization developer, inventor, creates and develops highly innovative and interactive projects for the web.
Post-Event Story + VIDEO on YOUTUBE
TALK TITLE: “Humans and Data”
In this Data Citizens talk, Santiago will explore the rich and complex relationships between humans and data: How machines and humans differ when it comes to data and information, what dimensions of humans’ life are being captured in datasets, and how data and data visualization are means of communication, expression, and creativity.
Register Now

About Santiago Ortiz
I create digital experiences that help people solve complex problems with data. I develop interfaces that allow for exploration, combination, deep understanding, and decision making based on large, diverse, and dynamic datasets. I have experience as a teacher, digital media artist, interactive data visualization researcher, data scientist, product leader, and entrepreneur. I’ve lived and worked in South America, Europe, Africa, and North America. I currently live in Palo Alto, California.
My public project can be visited at moebio.com

Data Citizens: A Distinguished Lecture Series is an ongoing course of in-depth talks by experts in the field of data science on a wide variety of topics including data visualization, big data, artificial intelligence, and predictive analytics. This lecture series is free and open to the public.

Demo Day 9/18 to Fund Biotech, Healthtech, and MedTech Start-ups and Scale-Ups
2021-09-18 10:00 - 12:00 UTC | Zoom (online)
Is your start-up or scale-up ready for the global fundraising stage? Join World Business Angels Investment Forum and the University of Miami Institute for Data Science and Computing (IDSC) on Saturday, Sept.18, 2021, 10:00 AM-12:00 PM (EST), for a virtual Demo Day to connect healthtech, biotech, and medtech companies with angel investors and venture capitalists. Demo Day facilitates access to a global network of investors and provides an opportunity to participate in an investor-readiness workshop, showcase your company to a global audience, and connect with experienced mentors.
Please submit your interest and inquiries to:
Ingrid.Vasiliu-Feltes@wbaforum.org

Registration Link forthcoming . . .

About World Business Angels Investment Forum (WBAF)
The World Business Angels Investment Forum (WBAF) is an international organization aiming to ease access to finance for businesses from start-up to scale-up, with the ultimate goal of generating more jobs and more social justice worldwide. It is committed to collaborating globally to empower world economic development by creating innovative financial instruments for innovators, startups, and SMEs.
The Forum interacts with leaders in all areas of society, first and foremost in business and political spheres, to help assess needs and establish goals, bearing in mind that the public interest is of paramount importance. WBAF engages a wide range of institutions, both public and private, local and international, commercial and academic to help shape the global agenda.
WBAF holds that, with the participation of individuals and institutions from multiple sectors and from all parts of society, real progress can be achieved.

WSBO-2021: Synergizing Biomedical Ontologies Workshop 7/14-15
2021-07-14 08:00 - 2021-07-15 16:00 (America/New_York) | Zoom (online)
This workshop is dedicated to developing tools/APIs for mapping or synergizing biomedical ontologies in ways that fit the current, modernized, technology era. Conversations will be around the best practices, with an emphasis on collaborative development and dynamic workflows.
Ontologies are standardized, formal vocabularies developed by domain experts, typically in collaboration with ontologists. In the era of big data and AI, they enable finding, accessing, interoperating, and reusing datasets and other digital research objects, in other words, making data F.A.I.R.
As more communities develop ontologies to meet their specific needs, it is critical that we maintain synergy with existing ontologies, especially reference ontologies. Similar, but unreferenced terms create ambiguities that complicate the implementation of the very F.A.I.R. principles ontologies seek to support. The biomedical field is especially rich with similar ontologies, including BAO and OBI, MONDO and DOID, DTO and PR, CLO and BRENDA, UBERON and FMA, and others. Extensive mapping efforts are often required to maintain associations between these ontologies, making integration expensive and cumbersome. No formal process has been established for collaboratively converging and actively maintaining synergy between ontologies.
The goal of this meeting is to stimulate conversation. Join us online via Zoom:
Full Program Schedule TBD
Day 1: Wednesday 7/14 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM EDT
Day 2: Thursday 7/15 12:00 – 4:00 PM EDT

Interactive workshop for implementing and using OntoloBridge

Register Now | Website
Please register using Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/workshop-on-synergizing-biomedical-ontologies-wsbo-tickets-149242142265

Abstract Submissions
We welcome submissions of abstracts of 300 words or less for oral presentations and tool demos.
Submit your abstract here: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=wsbo2021.
Selected abstracts will give a presentation not to exceed 15 minutes plus an additional 5 minutes for audience questions (for a total of 20 minutes).

Special Thanks to:
Workshop Co-Chairs

Stephan Schürer (University of Miami)
Mark Musen (Stanford University)

Workshop Organizers:

Samantha Jeschonek (Collaborative Drug Discovery)
Aisyah Yu Lin (National Institutes of Health)
Hande Kucuk McGinty (University of Ohio)

Free Software Carpentry Scientific Computing Mini Workshops 6/21-24
2021-06-21 13:00 - 2021-06-24 16:30 (America/New_York) | Zoom (online)
Software Carpentry helps researchers get their work done in less time and with less pain by teaching them basic research computing skills. These hands-on Python, R, Git, Github, and Bash Shell mini workshops will cover basic concepts and tools, including program design, version control, data management, and task automation.
Free and open to University of Miami Faculty, Staff, and Students, these sessions are aimed at graduate students and other researchers. You don’t need to have any previous knowledge of the tools that will be presented. Participants need a laptop with a Mac, Linux, or Windows operating system (not a tablet, Chromebook, etc.) with administrative privileges to pre-install the necessary software package(s).
REGISTER NOW register once/attend 1 or more session(s)
All Sessions are 1:00-4:30 PM via Zoom. Add to your Google Calendar
Full Workshop details at: https://tibbben.github.io/2021-06-21-UM-Scientific-Computing/

Monday 6/21 Bash Shell | Instructors: Elizabeth Overstreet and Tim Norris, Support: James Sobczak
Tuesday 6/22 Intro to Python | Instructor: Tim Norris, Support: Thilani Samarakoon
Wednesday 6/23 Git and Github | Instructors: Elizabeth Overstreet and Cameron Riopelle, Support: James Sobczak
Thursday 6/24 Intro to R | Instructors: Cameron Riopelle, Support: Thilani Samarakoon

Please complete this pre-event survey.
Participants will be encouraged to help one another and to apply what they have learned to their own research problems. For more information on what we teach and why, please see our paper “Best Practices for Scientific Computing”. To learn more about the roles at the workshop (who will be doing what), refer to our Workshop FAQ.
Contact: Please email tnorris@miami.edu for more information.

Cameron Riopelle, PhD
Head of Data Services
Librarian Assistant Professor
UM Richter Libraries

Tim Norris, PhD
Data Scientist
Richter Libraries
Institute for Data Science & Computing

Elizabeth Overstreet, MSDS
Data Broker Manager
UM Miller School of Medicine

James Sobczak, MS
Head of Data Services
STEM Librarian
UM Richter Libraries

Thilani Samarakoon, PhD
Biomedical Data Librarian
Richter Libraries

3-Week Summer Faculty Workshop "Deep Analytics for Massive Data"
2021-06-07 09:00 - 2021-06-25 12:00 (America/New_York) | Zoom (online)
The Institute for Data Science and Computing (IDSC) is offering a 3-week online (via Zoom) workshop for UM faculty not currently using data science or ML for research/teaching. This workshop provides a comprehensive but accessible introduction to data science and machine learning (ML), introducing relevant concepts and tools along with major modules.
“Deep Analytics for Massive Data: Roadmap Towards a Transformative Knowledge Grammar Using AI, Machine Learning, and Data Science”
Monday 6/7 – Friday 6/25/2021 | Weekdays 9:00 AM – 12:00 Noon | SYLLABUS
Minimal Prerequisites: College math and some experience in computing or IT are adequate.
The workshop uses cloud data and software resources (IBM cloud) in deploying applications. The cloud resources offer broad and complete coverage of topics with hands-on experience. Some initial programming language training is delivered to bring up the workshop participants to speed. At the conclusion, participants will acquire skills and tools in ML and data science for academic research, industrial development, or advanced research.
Topics include:

The Landscape of the Fields
Probability, Information, Uncertainty, Statistics, and Inference
Linear Algebra, Vector Calculation, and Optimization
Data science/machine learning methodologies
Databases and Structured Query Languages
Cloud Computing and Cloud Databases
Unsupervised and Supervised Learning
Natural Language Processing
Computer Vision
Time-Series Forecasting

Application Process: Interested faculty should fill out the application form, including a short paragraph describing how you plan to use the experience from the workshop in your research. Please direct questions to idscengagement@miami.edu.
Application Deadline: Friday, 5/28 by midnight.
Space is limited to 15 participants.
The workshop format opens with a 90-minute lecture followed by a 90-minute lab administered by a team of IDSC instructors via Zoom.

Post-Workshop: For the effort of continuing research/teaching in data science and ML, consultation, and technical assistance will be available from IDSC.

WBAF Miami Office Grand Opening Ceremony
2021-05-25 09:00 - 11:30 (America/New_York) | WBF Business School (virtual)
After creating a national office in Washington, DC, last year, the World Business Angels Investment Forum (WBAF) USA recently established a Miami office and has set their grand-opening ceremony for May 25, on the heels of signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Miami Institute for Data Science and Computing (IDSC).
WBAF is an international organization that aims to ease access to finance for startup businesses and is committed to collaborating globally to empower world economic development by creating innovative financial instruments for innovators, startups, and small and midsize enterprises (SMEs). This new partnership between UM IDSC and WBAF will open new doors for University of Miami students, faculty, and industry partners to share smart city ideas and to develop innovative technology strategies that can benefit communities around the world.
Join us virtually as we celebrate at the WBAF Miami Office Grand Opening.
You are invited . . .
World Business Angels Investment Forum (WBAF)
Miami Office Grand Opening Celebration
Tuesday, May 25, 9:00-11:30 AM ET | 2:00-4:30 PM GMT

Distinguished Speakers and Moderators include:
Melissa Medina of eMerge Americas, Raimundo Rodulfo (City of Coral Gables), Matt Hagman, and Christine Johnson (Beacon Council); and from the University of Miami: Norma Sue Kenyon, John A. Quelch, Rodolphe el-Khoury, and Nicholas Tsinoremas; as well as WBAF officers Baybars Altuntas, Gerard Dache, Ingrid Vasiliu-Feltes, Robert Levin, Israel Pons, and H.E Manuel A. Gonzalez-Sanz.
Your interactive invitation and a full agenda await at wbs.wbaforum.org.
TO REGISTER: Close the invitation pop-up and click anywhere to enter the building. Once inside the building, the next pop-up invites you to click on the green button for the Miami Ceremony.
Close that pop-up and click on the word “Auditorium” to gain access to the event floor. Then, choose “Grand Opening Ceremony-Miami Office”, and please register if you plan to attend. On the day of the event, click “Join,” and we’ll see you there!
