Leveraging Data Science For Global Health

This open access book explores ways to leverage information technology and machine learning to combat disease and promote health, especially in resource-constrained settings. It focuses on digital disease surveillance through the application of machine learning to non-traditional data sources. Developing countries are uniquely prone to large-scale emerging infectious disease outbreaks due to disruption of ecosystems, civil unrest, and poor healthcare infrastructure – and without comprehensive surveillance, delays in outbreak identification, resource deployment, and case management can be catastrophic. In combination with context-informed analytics, students will learn how non-traditional digital disease data sources – including news media, social media, Google Trends, and Google Street View – can fill critical knowledge gaps and help inform on-the-ground decision-making when formal surveillance systems are insufficient.

This open access book explores ways to leverage information technology and machine learning to combat disease and promote health, especially in resource-constrained settings. It focuses on digital disease surveillance through the application of machine learning to non-traditional data sources. Developing countries are uniquely prone to large-scale emerging infectious disease outbreaks due to disruption of ecosystems, civil unrest, and poor healthcare infrastructure – and without comprehensive surveillance, delays in outbreak identification, resource deployment, and case management can be catastrophic. In combination with context-informed analytics, students will learn how non-traditional digital disease data sources – including news media, social media, Google Trends, and Google Street View – can fill critical knowledge gaps and help inform on-the-ground decision-making when formal surveillance systems are insufficient.

Leveraging Biomedical and Healthcare Data: Semantics, Analytics and Knowledge provides an overview of the approaches used in semantic systems biology, introduces novel areas of its application, and describes step-wise protocols for transforming heterogeneous data into useful knowledge that can influence healthcare and biomedical research. Given the astronomical increase in the number of published reports, papers, and datasets over the last few decades, the ability to curate this data has become a new field of biomedical and healthcare research. This book discusses big data text-based mining to better understand the molecular architecture of diseases and to guide health care decision. It will be a valuable resource for bioinformaticians and members of several areas of the biomedical field who are interested in understanding more about how to process and apply great amounts of data to improve their research. Includes at each section resource pages containing a list of available curated raw and processed data that can be used by researchers in the field Provides demonstrative and relevant examples that serve as a general tutorial Presents a list of algorithm names and computational tools available for basic and clinical researchers

Data science has always been an effective way of extracting knowledge and insights from information in various forms. One industry that can utilize the benefits from the advances in data science is the healthcare field. The Handbook of Research on Data Science for Effective Healthcare Practice and Administration is a critical reference source that overviews the state of data analysis as it relates to current practices in the health sciences field. Covering innovative topics such as linear programming, simulation modeling, network theory, and predictive analytics, this publication is recommended for all healthcare professionals, graduate students, engineers, and researchers that are seeking to expand their knowledge of efficient techniques for information analysis in the healthcare professions.

With the amount of data in the world exploding, big data could generate significant value in the field of infectious disease. The increased use of social media provides an opportunity to improve public health surveillance systems and to develop predictive models. Advances in machine learning and crowdsourcing may also offer the possibility to gather information about disease dynamics, such as contact patterns and the impact of the social environment. New, rapid, point-of-care diagnostics may make it possible to capture not only diagnostic information but also other potentially epidemiologically relevant information in real time. With a wide range of data available for analysis, decision-making and policy-making processes could be improved. While there are many opportunities for big data to be used for infectious disease research, operations, and policy, many challenges remain before it is possible to capture the full potential of big data. In order to explore some of the opportunities and issues associated with the scientific, policy, and operational aspects of big data in relation to microbial threats and public health, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a workshop in May 2016. Participants discussed a range of topics including preventing, detecting, and responding to infectious disease threats using big data and related analytics; varieties of data (including demographic, geospatial, behavioral, syndromic, and laboratory) and their broader applications; means to improve their collection, processing, utility, and validation; and approaches that can be learned from other sectors to inform big data strategies for infectious disease research, operations, and policy. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

This book provides a focused resource on how cardiac surgery capacity can be developed and how it assists in the sustainable development and strengthening of associated health systems. Background is provided on the extent of the problems that are experienced in many nations with suggestions for how suitable frameworks can be developed to improve cardiac healthcare provision. Relevant aspects of governance, financial modelling and disease surveillance are all covered. Guidance is also given on how to found and nurture cardiac surgery curriculum and residency programs. Global Cardiac Surgery Capacity Development in Low and Middle Income Countries provides a practically applicable resource on how to treat cardiac patients with limited resources. It identifies the key challenges and presents strategies on how these can be managed, therefore making it a critical tool for those involved in this field.

Key concepts, frameworks, examples, and lessons learned in designing and implementing health information and communication technology systems in the developing world. The widespread usage of mobile phones that bring computational power and data to our fingertips has enabled new models for tracking and battling disease. The developing world in particular has become a proving ground for innovation in eHealth (using communication and technology tools in healthcare) and mHealth (using the affordances of mobile technology in eHealth systems). In this book, experts from a variety of disciplines—among them computer science, medicine, public health, policy, and business—discuss key concepts, frameworks, examples, and lessons learned in designing and implementing digital health systems in the developing world. The contributors consider such topics as global health disparities and quality of care; aligning eHealth strategies with government policy; the role of monitoring and evaluation in improving care; databases, patient registries, and electronic health records; the lifecycle of a digital health system project; software project management; privacy and security; and evaluating health technology systems.

This book seeks to promote the exploitation of data science in healthcare systems. The focus is on advancing the automated analytical methods used to extract new knowledge from data for healthcare applications. To do so, the book draws on several interrelated disciplines, including machine learning, big data analytics, statistics, pattern recognition, computer vision, and Semantic Web technologies, and focuses on their direct application to healthcare. Building on three tutorial-like chapters on data science in healthcare, the following eleven chapters highlight success stories on the application of data science in healthcare, where data science and artificial intelligence technologies have proven to be very promising. This book is primarily intended for data scientists involved in the healthcare or medical sector. By reading this book, they will gain essential insights into the modern data science technologies needed to advance innovation for both healthcare businesses and patients. A basic grasp of data science is recommended in order to fully benefit from this book.