The DVSP project was conceived in November 2020 with the aim to provide early-career biomedical scientists (Ph.D. graduate students and postdoctoral fellows) with the tools to develop the necessary skills to analyze, visualize, and package data into informative, yet concise, infographics. To this end, the Science Policy Group HTX was awarded $2,000 in microgrant funding through Research!America and the Rita Allen Foundation. After a competitive application process, we selected six DVSP participants who each received a subscription to Codecademy, an online educational platform specifically for programming that emphasizes learning by doing. We chose Codecademy Pro given the stepwise tutorials, expansive exercises and quizzes, and in-website text editor that facilitate learning for beginners. Each DVSP participant completed selected modules on data analysis and visualization using Python 3. These ‘skills paths’ have specific curricula designed to acquire applicable skills.

While the project was ongoing, we held biweekly, virtual ‘coding happy hours’ to help troubleshoot, discuss science policy topics, and work on our infographics. Beyond project-specific questions, these events were great ways to explore career development opportunities and engage a new generation of early-career trainees in science policy!

In the final phase of the DVSP project, we put our new data science skills to use and produced infographics on current science policy issues. Each participant had the freedom to work on a project of their choosing, with the only requirement being that data sources are publicly available. We used the sophisticated design tool Canva to produce visually engaging and easy-to-digest infographics on a variety of science policy topics of local, TX state, and national relevance.

Take a look below at the excellent work done by our DVSP participants!
At the end of the page you will also find a video of the final infographic presentation.

Participants:

Yuwei Liu, Erik Stricker, Hannah Yan, Nele Haelterman, Yong Lin, Bailey Martin-Giacalone, Matthew Avalos, Manar Zaghlula

COVID-19 Vaccine Accessibility in Harris County, TX

Yuwei Liu and Erik Stricker collaborated on this effort to analyze disparities in COVID-19 vaccine access across Harris County, TX, home to Houston.
Using publicly available data from the county and their advanced knowledge of Python, Yuwei and Erik generated two infographics - one looking at socioeconomic factors and the other at race/ethnicity as determining factors of vaccine access.

TX Legislative Proposals to Limit Gender-Affirming Care for Trans Youths

Bailey Martin-Giacalone looked into recent legislative efforts in Texas to limit access to gender-affirming care to transgender youths and conducted a literature review to find out what researchers and medical professionals have to say about the mental health implications of such policies on these children. Check out the infographic here.

Taxing Sugary Drinks

Hannah Yan investigated how taxing sugary drinks, such as sodas, may reduce rates of diabetes and cardiovascular disease in the U.S., and how even small taxes can have large effects both on health and the economy.

Implications of an Aging Population on Medicare Spending

Matthew Avalos asked how medicare spending has changed over the past decades as the U.S. population ages, but matched growth remains uncertain. In his infographic he explores several policy proposals on how to balance out the increasing costs of Medicare.

Busting COVID-19 Vaccine Myths

An infographic SPG/HTX designed prior to the DVSP project, when COVID-19 vaccines were still new to the market (Dec 2020) and a lot of misinformation was swirling.