The Michigan Institute for Data Science (MIDAS) has added two Associate Directors who will help increase outreach to all academic units at the University of Michigan.
- Pamela Davis-Kean, Professor of Psychology and Research Professor at the Institute for Social Research, will be the new MIDAS Associate Director for Humanities and Social Sciences.
- Kayvan Najarian, Professor of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics and Emergency Medicine, will be the new MIDAS Associate Director for Health Sciences.
- Ivo Dinov, Professor of Health Behavior and Biological Science, will continue as the MIDAS Associate Director for Education and Training.
- H.V. Jagadish, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and the recently appointed Director of MIDAS, will lead outreach efforts for Engineering and the Physical Sciences.
“The goal is for each associate director to engage with corresponding parts of the University,” said Prof. Jagadish. “At times, that will mean simply being a primary point of contact for researchers engaged in data-driven science. But it will also entail developing data science activities or programs of particular interest to researchers in their respective parts of campus.”
Davis-Kean and Najarian will take their positions on March 1, 2019.
MIDAS was established in 2015 as part of the university-wide Data Science Initiative to promote interdisciplinary collaboration in data science and education. The institute has built a cohort of more than 200 affiliated faculty members who span all three U-M campuses. Institute funding has catalyzed several multidisciplinary research projects, many of which have generated significant external funding. MIDAS also plays a key role in establishing new educational opportunities, such as the graduate certificate in data science, and provides additional support for student groups, including one team that used data science to help address the Flint water crisis.