Mada-Data System: Big Data on Planetary Health

Improving human health and the ecosystems we depend on is a pressing challenge. In many fields big data is a powerful tool for prioritizing and solving complex problems. We plan to harness the power of large divergent datasets to clarify, prioritize and design solutions to the problems facing ecosystems, human health and social well-being in Madagascar. For more than three decades, Stony Brook University’s Centre ValBio has conducted groundbreaking work on Madagascar’s biodiversity. With the creation of the Mada-Data system will serve as a model for identifying and solving the range of deterministic and stochastic challenges facing humanity across a range of time frames.

We aim to harness the power of large divergent datasets to clarify, prioritize and design solutions to the problems facing ecosystems, human health and social well-being in Madagascar.  There are number of data projects such as global forest watch, the World Bank’s economic indicators, and IHME’s global health and diseases, and the like. It is crucial to create an integrated platform to house the copious amounts of multidisciplinary data points. This will enable policymakers, scientists and providers to see the big picture and data patterns to help formulate early warning systems, enhance awareness, identify major challenges and implement timely solutions.

Principal Investigator:

Peter Small

Research Scientist:

Roxanne Karimi

Senior Researcher:

Jesse McKinney