UK Internal Medicine’s second annual BIG Data Workshop was held last month. Hosted by the Office of Research and Innovation in Internal Medicine (ORIM), the BIG Data Workshop is an annual four-hour session designed to enhance research productivity and foster collaboration across the department’s 16 divisions. The workshop combined didactic seminars, expert-led discussions, and hands-on consultation to support the development of research projects using secondary and existing (“big”) datasets. Sessions are led by experts in clinical research, epidemiology, biostatistics, and biomedical informatics who focus on translating research questions into actionable, high-impact projects.
This year’s experts included Eric Durbin, DrPH, interim chief of the division of biomedical informatics, Kristen McQuerry, PhD, associate professor in the UK College of Public Health and a member of the biostatistics consulting and interdisciplinary research collaboration lab (Biostat CIRCL), and Justin X. Moore, PhD, MPH, assistant director for population science in ORIM.
Dr. Moore, who is the leader of the workshop, was responsible for the overall coordination, the development and curation of content, and the acquisition of expertise for faculty attending the workshop. The three doctors then worked collaboratively to provide resources for the faculty in support of population science and research.
The workshop began with foundational presentations on major clinical and epidemiologic data sources. Dr. Durbin provided an in-depth overview of cancer registry data, including resources such as the Kentucky Cancer Registry, while Dr. Moore introduced publicly available datasets, including All of Us Research Program, the National Center for Health Statistics, and the National Inpatient Sample, and outlined strategies for developing rigorous research questions and applying epidemiologic methods.
A central component of the workshop was the integration of Biostat CIRCL support, led by Dr. McQuerry. During facilitated small-group sessions, participants received tailored guidance on aligning their research ideas with appropriate datasets, refining study design, and identifying suitable analytical approaches. The workshop concluded with a structured roadmap for developing statistical analysis plans and advancing projects toward abstracts, manuscripts, and grant proposals.
Following the session, attendees were invited to continue their work through ongoing one-on-one consultations with Biostat CIRCL, which provide continued statistical and methodological support. Additional opportunities included collaboration with medical trainees for assistance with literature reviews, abstract development, and manuscript preparation, further extending the workshop’s impact beyond the initial session.
At its core, the BIG Data Workshop aims to help internal medicine faculty understand opportunities for 'low-hanging fruit’ using existing data, to answer preliminary research questions that may be then used for future presentations, manuscripts, grant applications and collaborations.
“We hope that we spark research interest within internal medicine faculty and build more confidence to do research,” says Dr. Moore, “and our big goal is to one day have our department be one of the nation’s leaders in research funding.”