Health Data Research is the process of gathering and analysing information about people in order to preserve their health. It enables us to understand diseases and health conditions through a better appreciation of their causes, symptoms and the kind of people who are most at risk of becoming ill. In turn, this allows us to diagnose diseases earlier and provide better, more efficient care and treatment. This is crucial to the improvement of healthcare for all!
By applying for an internship in this sector alongside some of the world’s leading experts on life-saving research either in individual organisations or as part of our partnership with the national institute for Health Data Research: HDR UK as part of the Health Data Science Black Internship Programme.
The overall aim of the Health Data Science Black Internship Programme is not only to continue to tackle the underrepresentation of Black people within the health data science sector but to also provide motivated candidates with the experience they need to kick-start their STEM careers. Click here for more information:
https://www.hdruk.ac.uk/careers-in-health-data-science/internships/health-data-science-black-internship-programme/
Organisations interested in joining the Health Data Science Black Internship Programme can contact [email protected]
A key area of Health Data Research is Genomics. Genomics is the study of all of a person’s DNA, not just the sections containing genes. Today, it is most often used to help diagnose people with rare diseases and cancers, and to help decide what treatment will work best for them. However, we now have significant genomic data and analytic tools that are useful for investigating the genetic components of common diseases too – diseases like heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis and common cancers like breast, bowel and prostate cancer. These are the diseases that cause the most illness and place the greatest burden on NHS resources.
We can use these new genomic data and tools to identify people at higher risk of developing common diseases, many of whom are currently invisible to health systems like the NHS. These people can then be moved into some of the excellent prevention, screening and early diagnosis pathways we already have. That would result in better outcomes for those people and a more efficient use of healthcare resources.
