Open Source and Global Development in Epidemiology Training

Open Source and Global Development in Epidemiology Training Eun. Ryoung Sa, Akira Sekikawa, Ronald La. Porte Global Health Network – Supercourse Graduate School of Public Health University of Pittsburgh

Open Source Model • Software development process – Traditional model • Copyright • Source code: Closed • Bugs/problems – Open Source model • Free software, Internet • Source code: Open • Fast & cheap 2

Open Source Model • “Openness of knowledge” – Transparent knowledge • quality improvement – Knowledge sharing • time, cost, efficiency – Knowledge translation • local need, local customization – Global sharing, collaboration • decentralized development 3

“Open” Movement in Biomedical Science • Information sharing & knowledge dissemination for quality improvement – Open access journals – Open archives, Pre-print servers – Open Epidemiologic data – Open lecture archives 4

Open access journals • What: – Peer reviewed journal articles available on the Internet for free of charge • Why: – To improve knowledge dissemination, eventually biomedical science worldwide • Examples: – BMJ • www. bmj. com – Biomed. Central • www. biomedcentral. com – Pub. Med. Central • www. pubmedcentral. gov – Smaller independent journals • www. jmir. org 5

Open Archives • What: – Shared scientific archives around the world • Archives: scientific articles before publishing – E. g. Findings from on-going project • Standard format (OAI, Metadata) • Better search for research – “Pre-print servers”, “E-prints”, “Net-prints” • Why: – To share scientific findings among peer researchers worldwide • Broader feedback to improve their research • Examples: – ar. Xiv. org in Physics – www. netprints. org in Biomedical science – Individual authors’ homepages 6

Epidemiologic Data Publishing • What: – Attached electronic appendices to e-papers • Original dataset and/or SAS code • Why: – Research transparency, open review, extended analysis/ research – Good source for epidemiologic training • Examples: – Individual researcher • Hutchon DJR. Publishing raw data and real time statistical analysis on e-journals. {Infopoints} BMJ 2001; 322: 529 -530 – Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group • Original data (SAS files, protocols etc) • NTIS (Nat Technical Info Service) – NIH grant proposal • plans to require by this October 7

Open Lecture Archives in Higher Education • What: – “MIT Open Course Ware” • Opening all MIT lectures free of charge on the Internet – lecture notes, course outlines, reading lists, assignment • Why: – To improve quality in teaching in physics • both at MIT and worldwide • Progress: – Initiated in 2001, will be open soon 8

Open Lecture Archives in Higher Education • What: – “Supercourse” – Faculty open their lectures and share them worldwide free of charge on the Internet • Why: – To improve Epidemiology training worldwide • Progress: – Initiated in 1997 fall • 4 lectures • 80 faculty members – Year 2002 • 1000 lectures • 9236 faculty members from 118 countries 9

Open Lecture Archives in Epidemiology • Lecture transparency – Credit for faculty • Online lecture publication • Lecture citation • Open dissemination – Mirror sites – CD-ROMs • Global Health Network – Lecture sharing, open review – Local customization • Translation • Local Supercourse – Re-sharing process 10

Supercourse Local Customization Translation Local lectures Re-sharing 11

Local Supercourse Site Name Location, URL, # of Lectures Health, Environment, Sustainable Development Hokaido University, Sapporo, Japan http: //www. med. hokudai. ac. jp/~senior-w/supercourse. html 20 lectures Global Pathology Supercourse Dokkyo University, Tochigi, Japan http: //www. dkkyomed. ac. jp/dep-k/dli-path/WASP-Glo. html 8 lectures Behavioral Science Supercourse Hong Kong University http: //www. commed. hku. hk/super. course/index. htm 16 lectures Rehabilitation Supercourse U of Pittsburgh, US http: //www. shrs. upmc. edu/supercourse/index. htm 28 lectures Health Library Supercourse Virtual Library of Health, Cuba http: //bvs. sld. cu/sc/lecciones. html 23 lectures in Spanish FSU Supercourse Novosbirsk, Russia http: //www. pitt. edu/~super 1/national/index. htm 15 FSU National Health Profile lectures 15 Russian lectures and 22 English lectures 12