# Big Data Analytics Emerging Scholar (e-Scholar) Program for Minority Students

> **NIH NIH R25** · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA AT COLUMBIA · 2024 · $313,332

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
With the increase of healthcare-related Big Data, such as electronic health records (EHR), social media,
wearable devices, genomic data, and other digital records of information pertinent to individual and population
health, Big Data science has brought forth revolutionary advancements in many areas of health sciences,
including infectious disease research. However, the potential of Big Data in healthcare research has not been
fully realized due to challenges in data acquisition, analysis, and interpretation. One such challenge is the
nationwide shortage of a workforce with the necessary knowledge, competencies, and skills of Big Data
analytics (BDA), especially a workforce with diverse backgrounds such as racial and ethnic minorities. A
promising approach to increase the diversity of the BDA workforce in infectious disease areas is to promote
BDA research training and education among students from diverse backgrounds in the early stages of their
academic training. In response to PAR-21-258, “NIAID Research Education Program Advancing the Careers of
a Diverse Research Workforce”, we propose this R25 emerging scholar (R25 e-Scholar) training program for
minority undergraduate students to foster their interests and competencies in BDA research in infectious
disease areas. As an important stage of the workforce development pipeline, the undergraduate training
program for racial and ethnic minority students will contribute to addressing the nationwide shortage of a
diverse data science workforce in NIAID-focused areas. The proposed R25 e-Scholar program will recruit 12
racial/ethnic minority undergraduate students annually from three public universities (University of South
Carolina, Clemson University, and the College of Charleston) and three Historically Black Colleges and
Universities (HBCUs) (South Carolina State University, Claflin University, and Benedict College) in South
Carolina and provide students with interdisciplinary mentoring, comprehensive curriculum-based training,
and hands-on research exposure and experience. The program will provide trainees with interdisciplinary
mentoring, including team and peer mentoring. Each student will be mentored by at least one faculty member
in Big Data or health science, and at least one racial/ethnic minority faculty member will serve as a career-
focused role model for the student. Through the mentoring process, students will gain comprehensive research
and professional development training, including responsible conduct of research, manuscript writing, and
presentations at local or national conferences. The program will offer comprehensive curriculum-based
training via a four-week intensive summer institute in areas of BDA, infectious disease, public health research,
and professional development. The program will engage trainees in hands-on Big Data research for exposure
and experience in Big Data processing, analysis, visualization, and interpretation in the context of infectious
disease r...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10862544
- **Project number:** 5R25AI172761-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA AT COLUMBIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Xiaoming Li
- **Activity code:** R25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $313,332
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-06-08 → 2025-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10862544

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10862544, Big Data Analytics Emerging Scholar (e-Scholar) Program for Minority Students (5R25AI172761-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10862544. Licensed CC0.

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