Insights from the Women in Data Science Event
March 11, 2019

On March 4th, 2019, Medlior attended the regional Women in Data Science event, hosted by the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary. Women in Data Science (WiDS) is an internationally-broadcasted event hosted at Stanford University and has spurred many regional events since its induction. WiDS is a gender-inclusive event that aims to showcase innovation and contributions made by women to the field of data science.

The key highlights from the event were:

  • The insights into innovative methodological health services research conducted at the University of Manitoba, surrounding patient-reported outcomes and longitudinal data analysis
  • Patient privacy is at the forefront of healthcare data analytics, and a framework for the ethical collection, use and management of patient data is needed
  • The application of supervised machine learning methods to diagnose mental health conditions, such as schizophrenia and depression, and the challenges associated with implementing these methods
  • Taking a realistic approach to applying machine learning and AI in healthcare, noting that many biases exist in the currently available data

Overall, WiDS hosted at the University of Calgary was empowering and inspiring for individuals of all genders pursuing a career in data science. Both the local and broadcasted presentations were given by an all-female lineup of speakers that were impactful and we are looking forward to attending WiDS in the coming years!

Learn more about this inspiring initiative and join the conversation about gender inclusivity in the Data Science field. Also, read about the event hosted at the University of Calgary on March 4, 2019.