November 1 - 5 (10am to 4:30pm ET)

Data Viz + Cancer
Visualizing Data in Context for Novel Insights

Overview

The National Cancer Institute, as part of the Cancer Moonshot, is hosting a five-day Innovation Lab to generate creative data visualization strategies for cancer research. This Lab is intended to catalyze unconventional, interdisciplinary teams involving game designers, data visualization experts, and cancer researchers to spur novel methods of visualizing and interacting with cancer datasets.

This virtual event will take place throughout the week of November 1-5 (10am to 4:30pm ET - with optional, but highly recommended, evening activities). Applicants must be willing to participate for the entire duration of the Innovation Lab if selected as a meeting participant.

The Opportunity

Cancer data exists in a variety of complex modalities representing complicated interactions and emergent properties across different biological scales. For researchers to have the most impact in understanding key questions of cancer initiation, progression, and response to therapy, they need to be able to interact with data in an immersive way that allows for open exploration, manipulation, and discovery.

Data visualization and game design techniques from outside cancer research help users interact with information in unique and useful ways. They add needed depth and perspective that can enable critical insights that would otherwise go unseen. These not only include phenotypic features that may be actionable targets for therapy, but salient features of complex, multi-dimensional datasets. By visualizing abstract data, mapping non-3D data onto 3D spaces, fusing different data modalities, or integrating data between platforms, researchers can see a bigger picture and a broader context that informs the design of solutions to cancer care and research problems. Collaborations between experts from these diverse fields could yield novel interactive tools and techniques that can enable not only new ways to see data but new ways to think about data.

The Lab

This Innovation Lab will bring together PI-level cancer researchers, cell and developmental biologists, systems biologists, microscopy and imaging experts, along with experts in data visualization, game design, and information science to form new collaborations and develop innovative approaches related to imaging and data visualization in the context of cancer research. At the Lab, interdisciplinary teams will work together to ideate and tackle selected challenges in this area. Over the course of five days, teams will form, pitch, and develop project sketches guided by feedback from mentors and other participants.

Meet the Lab's Mentor Panel

Stacey Finley

Systems Biology - USC

Andy Phelps

Game Design and VR/AR - American University

Rong Fan

Single cell profiling - Yale University

Richard Levenson

Clinical and Experimental Imaging - UC Davis

Jason Schklar

User Experience - UX is Fine!

Who Should Apply

We encourage researchers and clinicians at the PI-level with diverse expertise across the continuum of cancer research, cell imaging, systems biology, data visualization, user experience, and game design to consider how your experience could help to develop innovative and immersive methods to explore complex datasets. Irrespective of expertise, we are most interested in new, innovative ideas and original thinking that arise from new collaborations between people of diverse backgrounds.

Approximately 30 applicants will be selected to participate in the Innovation Lab based on their interest, expertise, and openness to actively engage in interdisciplinary collaboration. Consideration will be given to balance a range of disciplines and experiences. All participants should be willing to engage in frank disclosure and assessment of ideas in a collegial and professional fashion. To facilitate open sharing, all meeting discussions will be considered a private communication not to be shared outside of the meeting unless approved by the contributor. NCI staff, in consultation with mentors, will review applications and select the final list of participants. All application information will be kept confidential.

Opportunities to apply for existing funding opportunities will be highlighted during the workshop. We encourage teams to develop applications from their project sketches for existing NIH funding opportunities and work with NIH staff to identify appropriate opportunities.

Why and How to Apply

If you’re interested in developing new, creative visualization techniques to facilitate cancer research, then we encourage you to apply. If applying, please be prepared to answer questions about yourself, your work and collaboration experiences, your research focus, and why you are interested in and qualified for the Innovation Lab. Applications will be reviewed internally by the Innovation Lab mentors and NIH staff. Research-related information will be kept confidential. Please share this information with any colleagues you think may be interested.

Application Deadline: Sep 8th

August 2 - 6

Data Viz + Cancer
Designing a Better Patient Experience

Overview

The National Cancer Institute, as part of the Cancer Moonshot, is hosting a five-day Innovation Lab to generate creative data visualization and design strategies aimed at addressing challenges patients have understanding their diagnosis, their clinical options, the volume and complexity of the surrounding information, and how clinicians use this information to help patients navigate difficult choices. This Lab is intended to catalyze unconventional, interdisciplinary teams involving game designers, patient advocates, clinicians, and researchers to spur novel ideas around designing for a more patient-centered experience.

This virtual event will take place August 2-6. Applicants must be willing to participate for the entire duration of the Innovation Lab if selected as a meeting participant.

The Opportunity

From the moment of diagnosis, patients and their doctors must make difficult decisions based on complex health information. Over time, that health information can change and circumstances evolve. These changes can trigger modifications to treatment or enrollment in clinical trials, all of which occurs under unusual duress. New approaches to patient engagement based on data visualization, user experience, and game design may help patients better understand their health data, build trust with their medical team, and inform balanced decisions. They can also help patients understand how they compare to broader cancer patient groups as well as help patients more easily find compatible clinical trials. Collaborations between experts from these diverse fields can help improve cancer care as well as the patient's experience of that care.

The Lab

This Innovation Lab will bring together patient advocates and clinicians along with experts in health communications, user experience, data visualization, game design, behavioral science, information science, and health data to form new collaborations and develop innovative approaches related to the cancer patient experience. At the Lab, interdisciplinary teams will work together to ideate and tackle selected challenges in this area. Over the course of five days, teams will form, pitch, and develop project sketches guided by feedback from mentors and other participants.

Meet the Lab's Mentor Panel

Corrie Painter

Patient Engagement - Broad Institute

Carole Baas

Patient Advocacy - NCI Physical Sciences Oncology Network

Lindsay Grace

Game Design - Knight Chair, University of Miami

Nils Gehlenborg

Data Visualization - Harvard Medical School

Robert Gatenby

Clinical Oncology - Moffit Cancer Center

Roger Altizer

Digital Medicine - University of Utah

Who Should Apply

We encourage patient advocates and clinicians with diverse expertise, researchers and practitioners in data visualization, user experience, information science, implementation science, game design, behavioral science, and anyone interested in how people interact with complex information. Irrespective of expertise, we are chiefly interested in new, innovative ideas and original thinking that arise from new collaborations between people of diverse backgrounds.

Approximately 30 applicants will be selected to participate in the Innovation Lab based on their interest, expertise, and openness to actively engage in interdisciplinary collaboration. Consideration will be given to balance a range of disciplines and experiences. All participants should be willing to engage in frank disclosure and assessment of ideas in a collegial and professional fashion. To facilitate open sharing, all meeting discussions will be considered a private communication and not to be shared outside of the meeting unless approved by the contributor. NCI staff, in consultation with mentors, will review applications and select the final list of participants. All application information will be kept confidential.

Opportunities to apply for existing funding opportunities will be highlighted during the workshop. We encourage teams to develop applications from their project sketches for existing NIH funding opportunities and work with NIH staff to identify appropriate opportunities.

Why and How to Apply

If you’re interested in developing new methods to facilitate patients’ decisions, help them understand their choices and risks, and help ease the emotional and psychological barriers that impede their already difficult journey, then we encourage you to apply. If applying, please be prepared to answer questions about yourself, your work and collaboration experiences, your research focus, and why you are interested in and qualified for the Innovation Lab. Applications will be reviewed internally by the Innovation Lab mentors and NIH staff. Research-related information will be kept confidential. Please share the information with any colleagues you think may be interested.

Application Deadline: June 8th