diff --git a/content/academia/oxford-ihealth-maintainer-spotlight.md b/content/academia/oxford-ihealth-maintainer-spotlight.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..218ab856 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/academia/oxford-ihealth-maintainer-spotlight.md @@ -0,0 +1,83 @@ +--- +name: Ernest Guevarra +institution: University of Oxford +department: Nuffield Department of Medicine +projectName: Oxford iHealth +projectRepo: https://github.com/oxfordIHTM +projectWebsite: https://oxford-ihtm.io +maintainerProfiles: + - github: https://github.com/ernestguevarra + - orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4887-4415 +badges: ["Academic Maintainer", "Lecturer"] +description: "An open-source global health initiative that fosters innovation, research, and education in computational sciences, helping learners and practitioners build reproducible workflows and tools for global health." +--- + +## What is Oxford iHealth, and what does it help people do? + +Oxford iHealth fosters innovation, research, and education in computational sciences for global health. It provides a learning environment for open and reproducible science and collaborates with partners to apply this learning to solutions for global health challenges. + +## What inspired you to start this project? + +This project was initially meant to support the module on Open and Reproducible Science in R that I teach in the MSc in International Health and Tropical Medicine at the University of Oxford. + +Over the past four years, it has evolved into an initiative to foster innovation, research, and education in computational sciences for global health. The main aim is to equip students with the skills and tools to participate in open and reproducible science. + +## How does this project connect to your academic work? + +I teach students in the MSc in International Health and Tropical Medicine, where my main module focuses on Open and Reproducible Science using R. + +Through this project, I develop open-source educational modules for teaching, while also creating tools (primarily in R) that provide standard approaches for data extraction, processing, and analysis in global health. + +## Who contributes to the project? + +The project is contributed to initially and predominantly by colleagues from the global health sector. Now, through the module I teach, students also learn R and contribute to developing the tools. + +## How are students involved in the project? + +Students primarily learn how to use the tools. For those who are interested, we provide mentorship in open-source package development using R so they can later contribute. + +In the module, we run a three-day hackathon where students contribute code to a repository that addresses a real-world global health problem. + +## How is the project used in teaching or coursework? + +The main connection is that students use the open-source tools in their thesis or placement work in the field. + +## What impact has this project had on your students? + +Skills development is the main impact we are seeing at this stage. + +## What impact has the project had beyond the classroom or research? + +Our tooling is widely used by R users in the global health data analytics field. + +## What does it take to maintain the project? + +I lead most of the projects either as a lead developer or in a supervisory role. Contributors are predominantly students, alongside faculty and partners involved in related work. + +## What have been the biggest challenges in maintaining the project, especially in an academic setting? + +Within global health sciences, developing software as an academic activity is still not widely recognised. This makes it difficult to secure funding or resources, as there are limited opportunities that support this type of work. + +## How do you ensure the project remains sustainable over time? + +Integration into course curricula is our main approach to ensuring sustainability. + +## How do you engage with your community? + +The course acts as the entry point to the community. As students graduate, we provide discussion forums via the website and GitHub. + +We also offer documentation and mentorship for students who want to apply reproducible workflows and improve their data systems and analysis capabilities. + +## Have you taken part in any open source programs or events? + +We haven't. + +## What would you love to achieve by showcasing your project? + +We are growing Oxford iHealth in an organic way, with a strong focus on students from low- and middle-income countries. We are not aiming to grow the project too large beyond this group for now. + +A showcase would help demonstrate what we are building, connect with others who share similar approaches, and inspire others to adopt similar methods in their teaching. + +## Is there anything else you'd like to share about your project or open source journey? + +Our approach is centred on giving students the skills and tools to participate in open and reproducible science, rather than just consume it. We want them to feel empowered to create, build, and share, and through that process, contribute to meaningful change.