Personal and Public Health Decisions in a New Open Data Reality
The outcomes of the National Inter-University Big Data Challenge — a student-led exploration of how AI and data science can shape better health and social futures.
2020
Inter-University Big Data Challenge™
IUBDC offers a rare and highly sought-after opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students to use AI and advanced data analytics to conduct hands-on, student-driven research in biomedical sciences and health.
IUBDC™
3D illustration of a colorful owl with large eyes and one wing raised.3D cartoon owl holding a glowing black square chip with the letters AI.

partners

& sponsors

Program Statistics
DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
IUBDC
63% / 50%
63% are women in STEM, 50% from underrepresented groups in STEM
94.5%
aim to publish their work in the Underline.io database with a unique DOI
89%
are competing in Inter-University Big Data Challenges for the first
TALENT POOL
IUBDC
68.8%
are students from the top 4 universities in Canada (UofT, UotA, UBC, McGill)
Culminating Events
Western Canada Finals
Calgary, AB, January 31, 2025
University of Calgary Hunter Hub for Entrepreneurial Thinking
Three people working on laptops and tablets at a long table in a modern workspace with a mural featuring words like imagination, leadership, and culture on the wall behind them.
No items found.
Winners
Winners of Canada’s National Big Data and AI Challenge
No items found.
member profile image
Kashif Siddiqui
kliq.ca
LinkedIn Icon
member profile image
Dean Callahan
Hoffmann-La Roche Limited
LinkedIn Icon
member profile image
Jodi Garner
Hoffmann-La Roche Limited
LinkedIn Icon
member profile image
Donna Janzen
Hoffmann-La Roche Limited
LinkedIn Icon
member profile image
Olayinka (Yinka) Awoyemi
SAS User Group
LinkedIn Icon
member profile image
Sean Rourke
University of Toronto
LinkedIn Icon
member profile image
Christopher Gravel
Health Canada
LinkedIn Icon
member profile image
Agnes Klein
Health Canada
LinkedIn Icon
member profile image
Ann Meyer
Ontario Genetics
LinkedIn Icon
Special Guests
Provides expertise and fosters connections with government academia, and industry to guide initiatives.
No items found.
estern Canada Finals
Toronto, ON, January 30, 2025
Microsoft Canadian Headquarters
Three people working on laptops and tablets at a long table in a modern workspace with a mural featuring words like imagination, leadership, and culture on the wall behind them.
The Dynamic Inter-dependency among Macroeconomic and Physical Health Variables and Their Effects on Suicide Rates in the United States
Ruyan Geng, Jia Yi Ong, Muhammad Ali Sajid, and Francisco Sandoval Macias
Dissemination of Canadian Provincial Public Health Policy about COVID-19 on Instagram and Twitter
Payton Mackwood, Hannah Illing and Emilie Kaye
Diabetic Prevalence Among Racial Groups and Their Susceptibility to Pandemics: Mitigating Future Harm
Michael Wang, Shubh Fageria, Abdalla Abdelhady, and Geedhanjali Vivekanandan
Correlation Between the Use of User-Image-Based Social Media and Eating Disorder Rates
May Jagodkin, Joanna Roy, Sarina Xi, and Shiqi Xu
Leveraging Machine Learning Methods to Predict COVID-19 Vulnerability in U.S. Counties Based on Socioeconomic Factors
Katharine Emily Lee, Cynthia Denise Lo, William Ren Xu, and Robert Ye
An Analysis Of COVID-19 Data to Identify Key Social and Policy Factors Affecting its Progression and Forecast Future Trends
Jia Cui, Yuzhou Liao, Qiaochu Zhang, and Ophelia Zhao
Deep learning transcriptomic model for prediction of pan-drug chemotherapeutic sensitivity
Eddie Guo, Mehul Gupta, Pouria Torabi, and Sunand Kannappan
An Analysis of the COVID-19 Infodemic: The Extensive and Disproportionate Impact of Public Figures on Public Behaviour and Sentiment Towards Hydroxychloroquine
Emily Chan, Ginah Choi, Kendrew Wong, and Shirley Zeng
The Impacts of International, Domestic, and Local Mobility on COVID-19 Deaths
Cathy Yan, Simran Pal Waraich, and Liza Babaoglu
The Impact of COVID-19-related Unemployment on Suicide Rate in Canada
Catherine Chen, Denny Liu, and Nan Ji Suo
An analysis of US health insurance and H1N1 vaccination coverage: Implications for a COVID-19 vaccine
Anaïs Rojas Vélez, James Li, Ziniu Chen, and Yen Ching Tan
Investigating the Effectiveness of Strict Government Policies in Decreasing the Incidence of COVID-19
Andrew Pringle, Christine Orcullo, Adam Tinaburri, and Seokhyoun Hong
Analysis of Socioeconomic Determinants of Increased COVID-19 Vulnerability
Alexandra Mircescu, David Cao, Pramith Senaratne, and Sajeev Kohli
A Convolutional Neural Network Approach for Skin Cancer Detection
Andy Dai, Yi Zhou Tang, Kevin Zhu, and Nicolaus Wong
Identifying COVID-19 Instagram Behaviour Patterns via a Novel Network Analysis Pipeline
Arthur Boschet, Vivian Chia-Jou Lee, Brenda Shen, and William Zhang
Winners
Winners of Canada’s National Big Data and AI Challenge
No items found.
member profile image
Kashif Siddiqui
kliq.ca
LinkedIn Icon
member profile image
Dean Callahan
Hoffmann-La Roche Limited
LinkedIn Icon
member profile image
Jodi Garner
Hoffmann-La Roche Limited
LinkedIn Icon
member profile image
Donna Janzen
Hoffmann-La Roche Limited
LinkedIn Icon
member profile image
Olayinka (Yinka) Awoyemi
SAS User Group
LinkedIn Icon
member profile image
Sean Rourke
University of Toronto
LinkedIn Icon
member profile image
Christopher Gravel
Health Canada
LinkedIn Icon
member profile image
Agnes Klein
Health Canada
LinkedIn Icon
member profile image
Ann Meyer
Ontario Genetics
LinkedIn Icon
Special Guests
Provides expertise and fosters connections with government academia, and industry to guide initiatives.
No items found.
Blue and white cartoon owl figurine sitting on a pile of assorted closed books with worn covers.

Invest in Success

Empower R&D Talent

Your contributions support young talent, who transform communities.

Previous Project
IUBDC
2026
Equitable Health Technologies: Overcoming Biases and False Inferences in AI Diagnostics and Drug Discovery
See Details
IUBDC
2025
Aging Powerfully: AI Blueprint for Chronic Disease Management and Social Determinants of Longevity
See Details
IUBDC
2024
Leveraging Open Data Analytics and Machine Learning to Improve Mental Health Research & Innovation
See Details
IUBDC
2023
Leveraging Open Data Analytics & Machine Learning to Improve Diagnosis of Rare Diseases, Patients’ Care and Support
See Details
IUBDC
2022
The Sustainability of Health Economics
See Details
IUBDC
2021
Infodemiology for the Future of Digital and Public Health
See Details
IUBDC
2020
Personal and Public Health Decisions in a New Open Data Reality
See Details
IUBDC
2019
Big Data of Recreational Drugs Through the Lens of Pharmaceutic, Public Health, and Socioeconomic Data
See Details