Scientific Data Council

About the Council

The NIH Scientific Data Council (SDC) is an internal NIH committee made up of senior NIH and Institute and Center (IC) leaders and data scientists. The SDC was created in 2013 and was constituted as part of a multifaceted expansion of NIH programs and governance related to data science. The SDC is intended to address, in a trans-NIH manner, the growing challenges and opportunities associated with “big data” and data science (broadly defined) in biomedical research, thereby improving data utilization by the research community so as to transform the impact of biomedical, clinical, and public health research.

Roles and Responsibilities

The primary roles and responsibilities of the SDC are to provide broad, trans-NIH programmatic leadership in the area of data science by:

  1. Addressing emergent and ongoing needs related to biomedical data, which include, but are not limited to, areas such as data sustainability, data usability, and data security, and which are appropriate to address in a trans-NIH manner;
  2. Providing guidance on the infrastructure(s) needed to support (1);
  3. Developing an NIH Strategic Plan for Data Science, with input from NIH and IC leadership, HHS, scientists, policymakers, scientific and professional societies, and the general public;
  4. Serving in an advisory capacity to the Office of Data Science Strategy (ODSS) on data science, including on the implementation of the NIH Strategic Plan for Data Science;
  5. In consultation with the ODSS, establishing subcommittees and working groups necessary to implement the NIH Strategic Plan for Data Science;
  6. Providing guidance about the interaction of NIH data science activities with those across ICs and outside of NIH (e.g., of other government agencies, the private sector, and other funding agencies – private and public, national and international);
  7. Synergizing with the “parallel” NIH Administrative Data Council and Data Science Policy Council.

Roster

CO-CHAIRS

Susan Gregurick, Ph.D.
Associate Director for Data Science, NIH
Director, Office of Data Science Strategy

Jon Lorsch, Ph.D.
Director, National Institute of General Medical Sciences

Bruce Tromberg, Ph.D.
Director, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering

MEMBERS

James Anderson, M.D., Ph.D.
Deputy Director for Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives, NIH

Noni Byrnes, Ph.D.
Acting Director, Center for Scientific Review

Michael Chiang, M.D.
Director, National Eye Institute 

Josh Denny, M.D.
Chief Executive Officer, All of Us, NIH

Gary Gibbons, M.D.
Director, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Eric Green, M.D., Ph.D.
Director, National Human Genome Research Institute

Anthony Kerlavage, Ph.D.
Program Director, National Cancer Institute

John Prue
Chief Information Officer, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research

Joni Rutter, Ph.D.
Deputy Director, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences

Steve Sherry, Ph.D.
Acting Director, National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine

Wilbert Van Panhuis
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

EX-OFFICIO

Patti Brennan, R.N., Ph.D.
Director, National Library of Medicine

Michael Gottesman, M.D.
Deputy Director for Intramural Research, NIH

Michael Lauer, M.D.
Deputy Director for Extramural Research

Andrea Norris
Director, Center for Information Technology
Chief Information Officer

This page last reviewed on May 24, 2022