While many students spent their summers relaxing poolside or catching the latest movie releases, CHIP Doctoral student Abhishek (Abhi) Bhatia, CHIP Master’s student Ashley Victor, and UNC undergrad student Kenzie Novak, spent their time teaching local high school students about the field of health informatics. CHIP’s DataAware program, short for Data Analytics for Teen Advancement, is a 6 week summer program focused on exposing high school students to health data analytics, digital health technology, and machine learning. Abhi, Ashley and Kenzie worked as teaching assistants for the program, which was led by CHIP staff member, Addie Griffin, online program coordinator.
With a highly competitive application pool, 8 students were selected from high schools throughout the triangle area to participate in the program. Students were introduced to data mining using R programming language and text mining using Python programming language. Students worked in pairs and independently to complete projects using their newly developed programming skills. Projects aimed to showcase the utility of data and programming to offer solutions to real world health challenges. In addition, students were engaged in virtual and in-person field trips to Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI), IQVIA, SAS, UNC Be a Maker space, and more. Students heard from CHIP faculty and CHIP doctoral students throughout the program as well. Professionalism components, such as resume building and interview skill development were also built into the schedule. The culmination of the program was the presentation of student projects to parents, CHIP staff, and leadership. Many students and parents commented that the program "exceeded expectations" and they truly valued their experience and exposure to the field of health informatics.
