Enhancing Data Science and Genomics Capacity of a Historically Black Medical College Through Interdisciplinary...

As data grows exponentially across diverse fields, effectively leveraging big data has become increasingly crucial. In data science and computational genomics, however, minority groups, including African Americans, are significantly underrepresented, coupled with the lack of resources and infrastructure in minority-serving institutions. This paper summarizes the second phase of our funded project that aims to enhance the data science capacity of Meharry Medical College (MMC), a Historically Black College/University (HBCU), by providing training and fostering collaborations between data scientists and researchers in basic science and biomedical fields. Using diverse training approaches and formats, we introduced data science and computational genomics to hundreds of MMC researchers and students in the past 2 years. The training modules designed for dental curriculums introduced artificial intelligence and machine learning to ~250 dental students, 80% of which are African Americans (AA). We have also fostered partnerships between data scientists and other MMC researchers for joint publications and grant applications in various areas that impact the health of AA population. The multiple grants awarded recently to MMC clearly indicate an enhanced data science and genomics capacity of MMC and the impact of our work on the local community.