Evaluation of AIML + HDR-A Course to Enhance Data Science Workforce Capacity for Hispanic Biomedical Researchers.

Journal: International journal of environmental research and public health
PMID:

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) facilitate the creation of revolutionary medical techniques. Unfortunately, biases in current AI and ML approaches are perpetuating minority health inequity. One of the strategies to solve this problem is training a diverse workforce. For this reason, we created the course "Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning applied to Health Disparities Research (AIML + HDR)" which applied general Data Science (DS) approaches to health disparities research with an emphasis on Hispanic populations. Some technical topics covered included the Jupyter Notebook Framework, coding with R and Python to manipulate data, and ML libraries to create predictive models. Some health disparities topics covered included Electronic Health Records, Social Determinants of Health, and Bias in Data. As a result, the course was taught to 34 selected Hispanic participants and evaluated by a survey on a Likert scale (0-4). The surveys showed high satisfaction (more than 80% of participants agreed) regarding the course organization, activities, and covered topics. The students strongly agreed that the activities were relevant to the course and promoted their learning (3.71 ± 0.21). The students strongly agreed that the course was helpful for their professional development (3.76 ± 0.18). The open question was quantitatively analyzed and showed that seventy-five percent of the comments received from the participants confirmed their great satisfaction.

Authors

  • Frances Heredia-Negron
    RCMI-CCRHD Program, Medical Sciences Campus, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan 00934, Puerto Rico.
  • Natalie Alamo-Rodriguez
    RCMI-CCRHD Program, Medical Sciences Campus, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan 00934, Puerto Rico.
  • Lenamari Oyola-Velazquez
    Department of Public Health, Medical Sciences Campus, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan 00934, Puerto Rico.
  • Brenda Nieves
    RCMI-CCRHD Program, Medical Sciences Campus, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan 00934, Puerto Rico.
  • Kelvin Carrasquillo
    RCMI-CCRHD Program, Medical Sciences Campus, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan 00934, Puerto Rico.
  • Harry Hochheiser
    University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
  • Brian Fristensky
    Department of Plant Science, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, Canada.
  • Istoni Daluz-Santana
    Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Medical Sciences Campus, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan 00934, Puerto Rico.
  • Emma Fernandez-Repollet
    RCMI-CCRHD Program, Medical Sciences Campus, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan 00934, Puerto Rico.
  • Abiel Roche-Lima
    Center for Collaborative Research in Health Disparities (CCRHH), University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico.