Health & Biology

Data science has reached all areas of health and biomedical research. Large and complex datasets are used to improve monitoring of population health and prevention of disease, provide novel insights into disease pathways and patient experiences, and to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of research. Technical advances in genome sequencing technology, mass spectronomy, and digital imaging have revolutionised the possibilities to study disease pathways. Huge repositories of clinical and molecular data are used for rational drug design and in pharmacogenomics. Epidemiologists and health services researchers increasingly use administrative and clinical data that are routinely collected in healthcare practice to assess the effects of interventions and to develop personalised medicine tools. Finally, mobile and wearable sensor technology offer novel and unprecedented opportunities to study health and behaviour in everyday life.