Big data for medical research
The use of computers and big data is becoming increasingly important within medical research. It can be seen as an entirely new way of approaching problems that complement theoretical and experimental research. A conference at Karolinska Institutet will hold discussions on the possibilities of big data as well as challenges in the form of technology, legislation and ethics.
“The medical research of the future will use computers.“ ”We are inexorably dependent on computers and we want to reinforce computer-based methods within medical research”, says Ola Spjuth, coordinator at Swedish e-Science Research Center which is headed by Karolinska Institutet and one of the organisers of the conference.
Epidemiology is one field of research where thousands of people contribute with millions or more data points. Other examples are DNA and protein sequencing where researchers handle large amounts of data in order to find disease genes, markers for diseases or treatment results. Such research is not possible without advanced computer use. E-science is a term that is becoming increasingly significant and that is partially about combining computerised research with another field of research, such as medicine. The challenges are many, both strictly technical with research on algorithms, advanced computer based methods and the use of super computers for simulations and calculations. Legal and ethical issues must also be discussed when data, which is often sensitive for the individual, is to be used, stored and handled safely.
Gilean McVean, head of the newly established Oxford Big Data Institute, Great Britain, will talk about how big data can be used in medical research. Further topics include what big data is, what is needed to analyse it and what is currently motivating the research community to invest in big data and e-science.
Denmark is at the forefront when it comes to large scale epidemiology studies and register research, and Mads Melbye, Executive Vice President at Statens Serum Institut, Denmark will talk about how to analyse information from very vast patient material, in some cases from the entire population of a country. Denmark also put great effort into integrating data from patient registers with information from bio banks.
Niklas Blomberg is Director of the European collaboration project ELIXIR. He will prpovide a European perspective on the large scale research infrastructure of the future and the importance of establishing standards as well as sharing and coordinating data between European countries.
The conference is organised by the Swedish e-Science Research Centre, SeRC, a association of researchers within technology as well as medicine. The four universities Karolinska Institutet, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm University and Linköping University are behind this national strategic effort.
Journalists are welcome to attend the conference “Big Data and e-Science in Medical Science”, and to interview the researchers.
Time and place: 23-24 April, Karolinska Institutet Campus Solna
Location: 23 April in the hall Erling Persson in Aula Medica at Nobels väg 6, and on 24 April in the Samuelsson hall at Tomtebodavägen 6. Look at a map here.
Please sign up with sabina.bossi@ki.se
The programme
For further information, contact:
Ola Spjuth, PhD, coordinator at Swedish e-Science Research Center
Tel +46 70 425 0628, email: ola.spjuth@ki.se
Timo Ropinski, professor in Interactive Visualization, Linköping University
Tel +46 11 36 3615, email timo.ropinski@liu.se
Erik Lindahl, professor of Theoretical and Computational Biophysics, Stockholm University and KTH, Royal Institute of Technology
Tel +46 8 5248 1567, email erik.lindahl@dbb.su.se
Sabina Bossi, press officer, Karolinska Institutet
Tel +46 8 5248 6066, email: sabina.bossi@ki.se
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