Center for Advancing Health Policy through Research

Health Data Science Summer Fellowship Program

The Health Data Science Summer Fellowship Program is designed to equip students at Brown with essential skills in data management and programming in the field of health data science.

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Questions?

For more information on the HDSSF program, contact Arlene Correa.

Health Data Science Summer Fellowship Program

The Health Data Science Summer Fellowship Program is designed to equip students at Brown with essential skills in data management and programming in the field of health data science.

The 2024 Fellowship Program has concluded. Please stay tuned for details or reach out to us regarding the 2025 Fellowship Program.

Target Audience

The Health Data Science Summer Fellowship Program is open to all undergraduate and graduate students who are enrolled in a degree program at Brown. Preference, however, is given to students with a background in public health or health policy and those who have some level of expertise in programming. 

Duration

10-week summer session

Cohort Size

10-20 students

Program Structure

The program combines didactic and project-based learning approaches as described below:

Didactic Approach

Fellows will undertake two short courses focusing on the following:

  1. A course focusing on fundamental programming concepts and data management for health data science
  2. A second course applying the skills learned in course #1 to analyze common datasets

Project-Based Learning

Prior to the fellowship, participating research centers in the School of Public Health will submit project proposals to the program. Fellows will then be matched with projects.

At the conclusion of the program, fellows will showcase their project work through a presentation to the program faculty. This will give an opportunity for fellows to communicate their research findings, and gain valuable feedback from mentors and other faculty at SPH. 

How to Apply

Applications for the 2024 cohort are now closed and are being reviewed.

Undergraduate Students - To access the applications for the fellowship follow the steps below:

  1. Using your Brown student account, go to https://utra.brown.edu/students/how-apply and click on "UFunds"
  2. Look for the  “SPRINT Summer Award Funding” application and apply for “Project # CFAHP-1, ‘Health Data Science Summer Fellowship Program’”

Graduate Students
Click here to apply 

Support for Fellows

Fellows will receive standard funding for summer research assistant work.

Past Data Projects

  • What is a wave? (Defining infectious disease such as COVID-19 in terms of waves to help structure future policies)
  • Identifying unmet pharmaceutical needs: a cross national comparison
  • Characteristics of post-termination insurance among Medicare Advantage beneficiaries
  • Association between demographic characteristics and health outcomes across countries
  • Predicting home region and race with health characteristics
  • Understanding advertising dynamics in Medicare Advantage
  • What factors predict inter-state migration decisions in the United States?

FAQs

Dates for the summer 2024 fellowship program will be released in early 2024. Applications for the 2024 cohort are now closed and are being reviewed.

The didactic portion during the first few weeks of the program will be held in person. Certain accommodations may be made for those unable to attend in person. The project-based portion, during the following 6 or more weeks, will have a hybrid format with schedules dependent on research team assignment.

Fellows are asked to list their top choices among the project topics and are then matched with projects prior to the start of the program.

For planning purposes, fellows can expect to devote 30 hours per week to the program.

The fellowship IS considered on-campus employment but does NOT count toward OPT employment authorization. (Please let us know if you need further clarification.)

Questions?

For more information on the HDSSF program, contact Arlene Correa.