Convergence is Here! How Can Life Sciences & Healthcare Accelerate Hiring of Data Science Talent?

October 23, 2019 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

MassBio, 300 Technology Square 8th Fl, Cambridge, MA 02139

Add to Calendar 10/23/2019 4:00:00 PM 10/23/2019 6:00:00 PM Convergence is Here! How Can Life Sciences & Healthcare Accelerate Hiring of Data Science Talent? The convergence of biology, data and engineering is here to transform discovery, development, diagnosis, treatment, patient experience, and outcomes measurement. But there’s an exploding talent gap due to a fast-moving landscape. Last year Massachusetts employers posted over 23,000 jobs in data science across all sectors, doubling the number of postings in 2014. Within the life sciences that demand increased by 40% during the same four-year period – growth that dwarfs the available talent. How can life science companies and research institutions in Massachusetts make the recruitment case against the lure of tech giants like Google and Amazon? One way is to increase awareness of jobs in this field amongst college and graduate students who may not be aware of the opportunities to use their skills to solve some of our most important problems such as cancer, neurodegenerative disease, and antibiotic resistance.

In this forum, our panel of experts will provide examples of programs in place now, such as academic-industry consortiums, specialized internships, and other means to drive awareness among data science students of the tremendous opportunity that awaits them in the life sciences and healthcare fields. Panelists will outline the type of career opportunities available today and where they see demand moving to in the future. They will give examples of the specific data skills sought in candidates and the educational degrees most preferred. We’ll end with an open discussion of other ideas to fulfill the convergence skills gap and what we need to do to boost existing programs.

Anyone involved in talent acquisition, corporate growth strategy, digital / technology innovation, as well as academics and with a passion for transforming life sciences and healthcare should come and join the conversation.

Sponsored by the Human Resoures (HR) Forum Working Group. MassBio, 300 Technology Square 8th Fl, Cambridge, MA 02139
Assistant Professor in Neurology, Harvard Medical School
Sudeshna Das, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in Neurology at the Harvard Medical School, Assistant in Neuroscience at the Mass General Hospital (MGH) and Director of the MGH Biomedical Informatics Core. She directs the data core of the Massachusetts Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (MADRC) and has led the development of several data-analytic platforms at MGH/Harvard. Her research interests include development of tools for multiscale data integration from molecular to clinical data, and the application of data-science approaches to the study of neurodegenerative diseases. She collaborates closely with clinician-scientists to understand the risk and mechanism of complex neurological disorders by applying computational tools on multimodal data, including genomic, transcriptomic, proteomics and electronic medical records big data.