Abade Elisha, Mulugeta Wondwossen, Orowe Idah, Hailemariam Getachew, Weke Patrick, Bekele Rahel, Zaugg Isabelle, Goldsmith Jeff, Sanchez Tiffany, Berhane Kiros
Department of Computing & Informatics, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya.
School of Information Science, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Front Public Health. 2024 Dec 11;12:1474947. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1474947. eCollection 2024.
The unprecedented availability of increasingly complex, voluminous, and multi-dimensional data as well as the emergence of data science as an evolving field provide ideal opportunities to address the multi-faceted public health challenges faced by low and middle income countries (LMIC), especially those in sub-Saharan Africa. However, there is a severe lack of well-trained data scientists and home-grown educational programs to enable context-specific training. The lack of human capacity and resources for public health data analysis as well as the dire need to use modern technology for better understanding and possible intervention cannot be dealt with currently available educational programs and computing infrastructure, demanding a great deal of collaboration and investments within Africa and with the Global North This paper describes processes undertaken to establish sustainable research training programs and to train a new generation of data scientists with knowledge, mentoring, professional skills, and research immersion. The goal is to position them for rigorous, biomedically grounded and ethically conscious Public Health Data Science practice with a focus on Ethiopia and Kenya. The programs are realized through partnership among Columbia University (CU, USA), Addis Ababa University (AAU, Ethiopia), and the University of Nairobi (UoN, Kenya). In this paper, we describe the collaborative project named " delving on its conceptualization, implementation framework and activities undertaken. We adopted both qualitative and quantitative approaches to understand the needs of the stakeholders for such educational and training programs. Through harmonized online surveys and stakeholder engagements via focus group discussions in Ethiopia and Kenya, a curriculum was developed for a masters degree program in Public Health Data Science (PHDS). Moreover, the engagement with local projects in both countries as well as active collaboration with other data science related projects in Africa under DSI-Africa consortium benefited the project to start the M. Sc. program successfully. So far, the launching of the graduate program in both countries and the two-cycle experience sharing program done at Columbia University as well as the numerous MoUs signed between partners for data sharing and internships are the major successes of the project. In this paper, we discuss in detail the challenges faced as well as the existing opportunities and lessons learnt this far in implementing this tripartite collaborative teaching and research project.
越来越复杂、海量且多维度的数据以前所未有的速度涌现，同时数据科学作为一个不断发展的领域也应运而生，这为应对低收入和中等收入国家（LMIC），尤其是撒哈拉以南非洲国家所面临的多方面公共卫生挑战提供了理想契机。然而，严重缺乏训练有素的数据科学家以及本土教育项目来开展因地制宜的培训。当前可用的教育项目和计算基础设施无法满足公共卫生数据分析方面人力和资源的匮乏，以及利用现代技术以更好地理解和进行可能干预的迫切需求，这就需要非洲内部以及与全球北方国家进行大量合作与投资。本文描述了为建立可持续研究培训项目以及培养新一代具备知识、指导、专业技能和研究沉浸式体验的数据科学家所开展的过程。目标是使他们能够从事严谨的、以生物医学为基础且具有道德意识的公共卫生数据科学实践，重点关注埃塞俄比亚和肯尼亚。这些项目是通过美国哥伦比亚大学（CU）、埃塞俄比亚亚的斯亚贝巴大学（AAU）和肯尼亚内罗毕大学（UoN）之间的合作实现的。在本文中，我们描述了名为“深入探究”的合作项目，包括其概念化、实施框架和开展的活动。我们采用定性和定量方法来了解利益相关者对这类教育和培训项目的需求。通过在埃塞俄比亚和肯尼亚进行统一的在线调查以及通过焦点小组讨论与利益相关者进行互动，为公共卫生数据科学硕士学位项目（PHDS）制定了课程。此外，参与两国的本地项目以及与数据科学倡议 - 非洲联盟（DSI - Africa）旗下非洲其他数据科学相关项目的积极合作，使该项目得以成功启动理学硕士项目。到目前为止，两国研究生项目的启动、在哥伦比亚大学开展的两期经验分享项目以及合作伙伴之间为数据共享和实习签署的众多谅解备忘录都是该项目的主要成功之处。在本文中，我们详细讨论了在实施这个三方合作教学与研究项目过程中所面临的挑战、现有的机遇以及迄今所汲取的经验教训。
