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Vincent Carey, PhD, of the Channing Division of Network Medicine, and Sonia Pujol, PhD, of the Surgical Planning Laboratory in the Department of Radiology were awarded funding from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) through its Essential Open Source Software for Science (EOSS) program. This program supports open source software projects that are essential to biomedical research. With a total of $16 million distributed to fund 35 projects, these grants support maintenance, growth, development, and community engagement tools that advance the areas of biomedical imaging, genomics, cell biology and bioinformatics.
Carey, a biostatistician, designs and analyzes clinical trials in the fields of obesity, cardiovascular disease and asthma. His winning project, “Bioconductor: Sustaining a Worldwide Community of Genome Data Scientists,” aims to increase the participation of underrepresented groups in genome data science research by fostering relationships with organizations dedicated to advancing diversity in science, increasing mentoring activities for developers, and enhancing the governance of Bioconductor platform that provides tools for the analysis and comprehension of high-throughput genomic data.
Pujol, a clinical neuroscientist, investigates the anatomical connectivity of the human brain with a focus on brain mapping technology for neurosurgical intervention. She is the director of Training and Education of the 3D Slicer open-source software platform for biomedical image analysis, 3D visualization and image-guided therapy, and the director of Training and Dissemination of the Neuroimaging Analysis Center. She received this CZI grant for her project, “3D Slicer in My Language: Internationalization and Usability Improvements”, which aims to increase the accessibility of the 3D Slicer platform to clinicians and scientists in non-English speaking countries to foster interdisciplinary teamwork and global community engagement.
The CZI, co-founded in 2015 by Priscilla Chan, MD, and Mark Zuckerberg, strives to aid in solving some of society’s toughest challenges. CZI brings together world-class engineering, grant-making, impact investing, and policy and advocacy work to create an inclusive, just, and healthy future. CZI funds several disciplines of basic science and technology, with the goal of curing, preventing, and managing all diseases by the end of this century.
