Big Data Health Science Conference Gathers Global Cohort to Bridge Discovery and Delivery

The University of South Carolina's Big Data Health Science Center hosted its 7th National Big Data Health Science Conference on February 12-13, 2026, in Columbia, drawing over 200 participants from 17 U.S. states and 7 countries. The NIH-supported event featured 55 poster presentations, 40 oral presentations across seven breakout sessions, and a virtual student case competition with 32 teams, focusing on applications of big data analytics in biomedical research, public health, and clinical practice.

The conference explored emerging methodologies and data-driven solutions across multiple domains, including artificial intelligence for clinical diagnosis, population-scale claims analysis, and health research perspectives from the Global South. Educational offerings included a SAS Viya training workshop and sessions with the South Carolina Department of Public Health. The student competition challenged 100 undergraduate and graduate students to develop data-driven strategies for shared decision-making in musculoskeletal condition management.