Cornell Statistics Data Science Speaker Series & Engaged Cornell present "Doing Data Science in Public Policy: Leveraging Data to Improve Health and Education in NYC", a talk by Kevin Konty & Sophia Day from the New York Office of School Health. This talk will take place at 3 p.m. Tuesday, April 24, in Malott Hall room 253.
The NYC public schools system is the largest school system in the US and the NYC Office of School Health is responsible for providing health services to NYC public school students, making it uniquely situated at the intersection of health and education public policy. In this talk, Kevin and Sophia will present case studies based on their experience working in research and analytics in the Office of School Health. They will describe challenges and opportunities for data scientists in government, and conclude with advice for students interested in such careers.
Open to Cornell community. Talk from 3 to 4pm. Refreshments served after talk, where speakers will be available for further discussion. To set up an individual meeting with the speakers, contact ht395@cornell.edu
Kevin Konty directs the NYC Office of School Health’s Research and Analytics Division. Kevin has a Master’s in Statistics from the University of Pennsylvania and is completing a PhD in Geography at the University of California, Santa Barbara. From 2004–2014, Konty led the NYCDOH’s Epidemiology Methodology Unit that housed the GIS Center, was responsible for all small area population estimates, provided design and methods support to neighborhood surveys and other efforts to characterize communities, and developed spatial methods for outbreak detection. Prior to this, he worked at the United States Census Bureau.
Sophia Day is a statistician and Surveillance Director in the NYC Office of School Health. Sophia has a Master’s in Statistics and Applied Mathematics from Hunter College CUNY and is completing a DPH in Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the CUNY School of Public Health. Sophia's research has focused on the evaluation of trends in obesity, physical fitness, attendance and academic performance among school children in NYC, utilizing methods such as quantile regression and growth trajectories. Currently, Sophia is working on identifying students with poorly controlled asthma, towards incorporating alerts for asthma hospitalizations into school nursing systems.
This event is funded in part by Cornell Office of Engagement Initiatives via an Engaged Graduate Student Grant, Department of Statistical Science, and Graduate and Professional Student Assembly Finance Commission. Questions or need special arrangements? Contact ht395@cornell.edu