Page 3 - Institute for Data Science

uniquely positioned to advance our Data Science Is understanding of how the brain the Future: makes sense of the world. Modeling Moving Forward and replicating human perception Rochester researchers are already is one of the most ambitious and harnessing the potential of big data. exciting domains in data science. They are conducting biomedical re- Rajeev Raizada, assistant profes- search in the Health Science Center sor of brain and cognitive sciences, for Computational Innovation uses pattern-based fMRI analysis (which hosts the IBM Blue Gene/Q supercomputer) and advancing in order to understand the way discoveries in machine learning, ar- the brain encodes and processes tifcial intelligence, and biostatistics. information. His work is laying a They are using data science to foundation for the day when neu- model and predict the spread of roscientists will use a brain scan to diseases, to track the popularity of political ideas, to understand diagnose the underlying causes of consumer preferences, and even to learning disabilities like dyslexia predict the existence of new plan- and to detect impairments long ets. The data science initiative will before children experience difculty also strengthen existing corporate partnerships and spur entrepreneur- or, potentially, failure in school. ial activity in Rochester, throughout the region, and around the world. Analytics on Demand Analyzing large-scale data requires Making Sense the appropriate tools—a challenge Data science is helping researchers that some of the institute’s faculty make sense out of vast quantities members will address. Te ultimate of data. The feld has evolved as a hybrid of research in statistics, goal is to relieve the end user from electrical and computer engineer- the need to understand details of a ing, computer sciences, and sci- platform in order to have the com- entifc information, driven largely by the proliferation of data in the puter system determine the optimal digital age. use of resources. Axel Wismueller, a practic- The Big Picture ing diagnostic radiologist at the With advances in supercomputing, University of Rochester Medical researchers share an ever-growing Center and an associate professor toolkit of mathematical and com- of radiology, biomedical engineer- putational methods. New, powerful ing, and electrical and computer techniques for collecting, managing, engineering, is concerned with and analyzing huge amounts of data are breaking down traditional barri- the abundance of medical images ers between disciplines. currently available and the need to For instance, it is not uncommon make timely diagnoses. Computer- to fnd a team including scientists aided analysis of biomedical images trained in physics working on prob- in real time, he says, will transform lems in fnance, or on techniques developed for processing natural the feld and help bridge the gap language text to fnd a use in ge- between fundamental engineering Rochester researchers are using netic analysis, or on methods origi- data science to mine social me- research and clinical practice. dia, develop neural fngerprints, nally developed for displaying and and explore biomedical images linking text on the Internet to serve as a key technology for integrating in ways that advance discovery large scientifc databases. and innovation.