A team from the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences is collaborating with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, analysing data from studies all around the world to better understand the factors that prevent kids from thriving. Their aim? To develop evidence-based tools to identify the most effective strategies for intervention.
Every child deserves an equal chance to thrive; but in a resource-limited world, how do we determine the intervention strategies that will deliver universal and lasting benefit? Biostatistician Distinguished Professor Louise Ryan believes data science can play a critical role in the complex search for answers.
Ryan and her team in the UTS School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences are leading the Sydney arm of an ambitious global research project that aims to apply quantitative methods to transforming child health.
Spearheaded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Healthy Birth, Growth and Development knowledge integration (HBGDki) initiative brings together data from studies conducted all around the world and draws on disciplines as diverse as statistics, epidemiology, pharmacology, biology and more.
Ryan’s expertise in combining and analysing data from multiple sources and her many years spent living and working as a biostatistician in the United States made her a natural choice for the project.
Continue reading on the Research site: Helping children thrive