#MentorMonday: Deborah Duran and Denise Warzel

Our Civic Digital Fellows are involved in a cross-NIH project that aims to create a national data resource to ensure researchers, clinicians, and healthcare providers have available and can make use of all relevant data needed to address healthcare crises. A key component to interoperable data is the use of common data elements and common data models for which there are currently no NIH-wide recommendations. COVID has presented NIH with the motivation to make this aim a reality, and as the most significant health crisis of our lifetime, our fellows have the opportunity to apply their skills to a project with global influence.

The opportunity for mutual learning.

We welcome the opportunity for mutual learning through our engagement with these highly motivated and talented young individuals, helping them to learn professional skills and practicing them in a supportive environment. We hope that we can inspire them, like us, to pursue a career in the public sector that allows them to leverage their unique skills and talents in a manner that is fulfilling and provides life-long satisfaction. We hope they bring their unique curiosity, creativity, and excitement to the project with a fresh outlook and shared optimism for what they will learn and contribute while they are with us. 

Encouraging the next generation of data scientists.

It is important to encourage the next generation of data scientists, especially those from underrepresented populations. I [Deborah] want to bring this new talent into the health and biomedical fields of status. Our fellows bring new eyes as well as current skills and technologies to enhance the project’s efforts.