<p>Please join us April 16th to learn about the open science movement and how it is impacting the traditionally closed world of biology research. We are excited to be hosting Olga Botvinnik – a bioinformatics scientist and advocate for open data and open science. She will be sharing some insights from her research and also her career experiences more generally.</p> <p>This event is a collaboration between R-Ladies Philly and DataPhilly - no background in bioinformatics is needed!</p> <p>==Estimated Agenda==<br/>6:00: Food and casual networking (refreshments generously provided by Vistar Media)<br/>6:30: Intro to the Childhood Cancer Data Lab by Jaclyn Taroni, PhD<br/>6:45: "If I wasn't such a mess" by Olga Botvinnik, PhD - followed by time for Q&amp;A and additional conversations</p> <p>Olga Botvinnik is a bioinformatics scientist at Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, a non-profit biomedical research institute. She is a genomics expert interested in a “grand unified theory of cells,” by applying computer science and machine learning algorithms to biological data, especially interested in sequencing weird creatures such as ticks. She holds two S.B. degrees, one in Mathematics and one in Biological Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She also holds a M.S. in Bioinformatics and Biomolecular Engineering from UC Santa Cruz, and she completed her education with a PhD in Bioinformatics and Systems Biology from UC San Diego. She is a NumFOCUS John Hunter Technical Fellowship and NDSEG Fellowship recipient. She runs a weekly Twitch livestreaming channel called “Bioinformatics Beyonce” that showcases real bioinformatics work such as genome assembly, open-source software and cloud computing, and interviews with scientists about their research and day-to-day work. Open science, open data, open source.</p> <p>Jaclyn Taroni, PhD is a data scientist at the Childhood Cancer Data Lab, an Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation initiative located right here in Philadelphia (<a href="https://www.ccdatalab.org" class="linkified">https://www.ccdatalab.org</a>). The CCDL supports open science and specifically cancer research by creating tools to make biological big data easier to access, mine, and reuse.</p> <p>==Getting there==<br/>The event is hosted by our friends at Azavea – 990 Spring Garden St. You can enter via the north side of the building where there is a security guard. Take the elevator to the 5th floor. For public transit and other information about the building: <a href="https://www.azavea.com/directions/" class="linkified">https://www.azavea.com/directions/</a></p> <p>==About our sponsors==<br/>Vistar Media: On the Vistar Media engineering team, we never stop looking for our next addition. We’re kinda hoping that addition is you. We are located in Old City, Philadelphia.<br/>We're a startup with an established, well-tested codebase, but we aren't afraid to shake things up. We want to solve our problems with the right tools, whether they’re cutting-edge, or tried-and-true. We're happy to explore new territory (who isn't?), but we won't jump on something shiny for the sake of it. Our engineers work with many different languages and platforms every day. If this gets you excited, we'd love to hear from you. <a href="https://www.vistarmedia.com/open-positions" class="linkified">https://www.vistarmedia.com/open-positions</a></p> <p>Azavea is a B Corporation that creates civic geospatial software for the web. We build custom application; develop data analytics; and manage several open source projects (GeoTrellis, Raster Vision, Raster Foundry, and others). All of our work is aimed at advancing the state of the art in geospatial technology and applying it for civic, social, and environmental impact. We work in many domains, including: elections, planning, water, transportation, climate change and land conservation.<br/>Azavea is currently recruiting for an Operations Engineer (more at <a href="https://careers.azavea.com/" class="linkified">https://careers.azavea.com/</a>) as well as for two fellowship programs, Summer of Maps and our Open Source Fellowship.</p>