CBIIT Cancer Data Science Pulse Blog

People lean over a table to study papers and graphics

Career Confessions: A Health Information Manager’s Time in an NCI Fellowship

November 28, 2023, by Boyun Jang

After her fellowship with NCI, one health information manager learned it’s never too late to learn more about data science. Read about the five things she said are helping her in her career.

Image of a small square that reads "AI" in white, with larger letters reading "AI" above it floating in the air. Blue bacground.

Semantics Series—A Deep Dive Into Common Data Elements

July 20, 2023, by Denise Warzel, M.Sc., Gilberto Fragoso, Ph.D.

Common Data Elements (CDEs) are a key component of NCI’s semantics infrastructure. CDEs allow us to assign meaning to data in a way that’s predictable, consistent, and persistent across time. CBIIT’s Ms. Denise Warzel and Dr. Gilberto Fragoso show how CDEs help researchers define, map, and use data more efficiently.

A Magnetic Resonance Image (MRI) on the left (A) shows a suspicious cancer lesion (dark mass marked by arrows). A deep learning-based AI algorithm helps further define this lesion as prostate cancer (B). The lesion in B is displayed as a large red mass, outlined in blue and green. The lesion in B is much larger than the one shown in A, indicating AI helped to better define the extent of the cancer than MRI alone.

Theranostics and AI—The Next Advance in Cancer Precision Medicine

June 28, 2023, by Baris Turkbey, M.D.

In this blog, Dr. Baris Turkbey, senior clinician in NCI’s Molecular Imaging Branch, Center for Cancer Research, explores the field of theranostics. He describes how artificial intelligence and data are helping researchers “see” cancer in a new way, resulting in a more precise way of targeting cancer treatment.

Photo of a DNA double helix overlaid with binary code (ones and zeros) and DNA sequence TCGA.

Trusting the Data—A Look at Data Bias

May 22, 2023, by Vivian Ota Wang, Ph.D.

Dr. Vivian Ota Wang shares her perspectives on data bias and outlines ideas for making data more equitable, fair, and useful to the greatest number of people, all of which would benefit cancer research.

A blue, round character with large, shiny black eyes and a smiling expression floats in front of a background. The background is a futuristic scene with vertical lines of light and glowing dots, giving a sense of a digital or high-tech environment.

NCI Brings Cancer Data to Life

February 13, 2023, by Datum

Did you ever wonder what goes into making data ready for analysis by researchers around the world? In this video blog, meet "Datum," a single speck of genomic data chronicling how NCI supports cancer research by bringing data to life.

Examples of data visualization showing a circular heat map and a PCA biplot.

Visualizing Data Using Circular Heatmaps and Biplots—Pro-Tips From NCI Researchers

January 17, 2023, by Arashdeep Singh, Ph.D. Researcher, Cancer Data Science Laboratory and Sridhar Hannenhalli, Ph.D. Senior Investigator, Cancer Data Science Laboratory

We’re continuing our blog series on data visualizations with a look at circular heatmaps and biplots. This blog features images and tips from Drs. Arashdeep Singh and Sridhar Hannehalli of NCI’s Center for Cancer Research.

Illustration of a clear-glass capsule that houses multiple balls that depict icons referencing data types. This includes icons of statistics, childhood cancer, cloud, and partnerships.

NCI’s Data Science Time Capsule—A Snapshot in Time

September 20, 2022

The data science time capsule has been buried for now, but we’ll be digging it up again to check our progress on January 29, 2028.

Artist's rendition of data and artificial intelligence. Shows a small blue circle with a big smile to represent data and an orange rectangle with an antenna on top, also smiling, to represent AI.

Datum and Artificial Intelligence—A Perfect Match

May 23, 2022

See why the data-AI relationship works so well for cancer research in this offbeat blog featuring two fictitious characters—Datum and his pal, Aida.

Using Bioinformatics to Solve the Neoantigen Puzzle

March 31, 2022, by Malachi Griffith, Ph.D.

Dr. Griffith tells how his tinkering with computers, bioinformatics, and genomics is helping him understand the complexities of this promising research area.

Blending Weather Forecasting with Team Science Leads to Advances in Cancer Immunotherapy

March 2, 2022, by Elana J. Fertig, Ph.D.

Dr. Elana J. Fertig describes how she is using artificial intelligence, blended with spatial and single cell technologies, to better understand how cancer will respond to treatment.

Semantics Primer

January 13, 2022, by Gilberto Fragoso, Ph.D., Biomedical Informatics Program Manager, CBIIT

Discover how semantics strengthens biomedical informatics and data science. Learn how systems improve data interoperability, making it easier to integrate diverse datasets and support researchers in unlocking deeper insights.