Public Health Data Challenge: Congratulations to our Winners!
December 20, 2018
This fall in the Public Health Data Challenge, 91 teams made up of 303 students submitted their recommendations on how local officials should fight the national opioid epidemic after analyzing the CDC’s Multiple Cause of Death (Detailed Mortality) data set.
Students recommended creative and thoughtful solutions for local officials including increasing the availability of naloxone (an opioid overdose reversal drug), opioid agnostic therapy (OAT), increased access to clinics, lower restrictions on cannabis, and closer monitoring of people with opioid prescriptions.
Drug overdose deaths are the leading cause of injury and death in the United States, and it’s up to statisticians and other experts to use their skills to make positive changes in their communities. These incredible teams prove that the future of statistics is in capable hands as they used their data analytics and problem-solving skills to propose steps to mitigate the opioid crisis.
Congratulations to our winning teams!
Best Overall:
Undergraduate: Arianna Kazemi, Connor Kennedy, Gabri Silverman, Yugal Subedi
Sponsored by Nicholas Reich
High School: Nicholas Chiang, Bobby Daigle, Allison Lam, Janise Liang, Vittal Thirumalai
Sponsored by Claudia Smith
Honorable Mention, Best Visualization:
Undergraduate:
Nicholas Karig, Trent Maddox, Robert Yeatts
Sponsored by Nicole Lewis
View the presentation
Steven Lawrence, Hector Morhan, Marco Paulino
Sponsored by Emma Benn
View the presentation
High School:
Preston Chan, Lyon (JJ) Li, Saurav Raghavendra
Sponsored by Claudia Smith
View the presentation
Anisha Baktha, Sandhya Bellary, Dave Ho, Raunak Singh
Sponsored by Claudia Smith
View the presentation
Honorable Mention, Best Use of External Data:
Undergraduate:
Lizzy Compton, Jacob Englert, Parker Kain, Sami Shaw, Courtney Taylor
Sponsored by Joseph Nolan
View the presentation
Ashira Mawji, Alison Ortiz Dimas, Chae Young (Clara) Seo
Sponsored by Katherine Correia
View the presentation
High School:
Nicholas Chin, Lucy Li, Janet Qian, Tejas Rao
Sponsored by Claudia Smith
View the presentation
Rebecca Schwartz, Avery Tandon
Sponsored by Heather Pessy
View the presentation
“Statistics is a powerful resource for addressing societal challenges, and these passionate students prove that the next generation of statisticians is a force for positive change in the world,” said Ron Wasserstein, ASA Executive Director. “The American Statistical Association congratulates all the winners of the Public Health Data Challenge for their thoughtful and creative recommendations and data analysis on how to mitigate the opioid crisis.”
Thank you to all the teams that submitted their thoughtful and thorough analysis to this year’s data challenge. Your statistics skills will be a force for positive change for years to come!
Stay tuned for our next contest! Statsketball launches this spring. Be the first to know by signing up for our email list here.
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