Are You One of our Next Young Academy Panel Members?

Meet medical doctor and DDSA Young Academy Panel (YAP) member Cecilie Utke Rank! Cecilie has a special interest in AI with the use of machine learning and personalised medicine, which she believes will be part of the backbone of healthcare in the future. The nomination for the next YAP-members is open from June 1, 2023.

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“Data science is a versatile academic area that draws on a large array of skills and expertise from various fields. In Denmark, we have the people and the skills. We have strong tech companies. We have invaluable data sources. We have the potential to set the scene and make a global impact within data science. With the formation of a panel of young data scientists from both academia and industry, initiatives to improve the collaboration and knowledge sharing within Danish data science can be launched. And for sure, I wanted to be part of this journey.”

Cecilie Utke Rank, Medical Doctor and PhD, Rigshospitalet, University Hospital of Copenhagen

Can you describe your working area, and which fields within data science you have a special interest in?

I am a passionate Cochrane member and treasure the use of data science in the generation of evidence-based guidelines for clinical practice. However, I have at the same time focused on the many biases that arise when working with data. My research at the Pediatric Oncology Laboratory at Rigshospitalet has primarily focused on acute lymphoblastic leukemia and the identification, prediction as well as prevention of fatal or invalidating treatment-related adverse events. I have a special interest in AI with the use of machine learning and personalised medicine, which — I believe — will be part of the backbone of healthcare in the future.  

Why do you think that data science is important for our society?

We live in a world of digitisation with industries across the country generating large datasets of useful information every second. Data science is an interdisciplinary field that extracts insights and actionable knowledge from many structured, unstructured, or noisy data — using scientific methods, data mining techniques, machine-learning algorithms, etc. So, data science is geared toward helping the industry and organisations as well as individuals make better decisions from big data.

What was your motivation for getting nominated for the DDSA Young Academy Panel?

Data science is a versatile academic area that draws on a large array of skills and expertise from various fields. In Denmark, small data science communities and research groups are scattered across the country, lacking unification. We have the people and the skills. We have strong tech companies. We have invaluable data sources. We have the potential to set the scene and make a global impact within data science. With the formation of a panel of young data scientists from both academia and industry, initiatives to improve the collaboration and knowledge sharing within Danish data science can be launched. And for sure, I wanted to be part of this journey.  

As a member of YAP, which activities have you engaged in?

I have taken part in organising parallel sessions as well as the poster session at the Danish Data Science 2022 conference.

What is great about being a part of YAP and why is YAP important?

YAP is a group of enthusiastic young data scientists from many different fields, who all strive to establish a common platform for data science in Denmark and, thus, expanding, unifying, and reinforcing the Danish data science community. As a member of this group, you get to shape the future of Danish data science. You will have the rare opportunity of organising important initiatives such as the annual Pre-graduate Retreat, the Mentoring Programme as well as taking part in the planning of the annual DDSA conference. Last but not least, you get to know and work with wonderful, inspiring, and extraordinary people—which, I think, is a gift in itself.

“As a member of this group, you get to shape the future of Danish data science.”

Cecilie Utke Rank, medical doctor and PhD, Rigshospitalet, University Hospital of Copenhagen

What is great about being a part of DDSA and why is DDSA important?

Whether you zero in on the Board of Directors, the committees, the panels, or the secretariat of DDSA, every single person in DDSA demonstrates an exceptional enthusiasm, motivation, and readiness to provide unique opportunities to support the education and training of the new generations of data scientists — creating a unique data science community in Denmark that can compete internationally and attract talent. Yes, you could say: What is big data without data science? And I will dare to say: What is Danish data science without DDSA?

We are thrilled to have Cecilie onboard at DDSA!