International Day Of Women in Statistics and Data Science

Open science is pivotal in advancing medical research by promoting accessibility and collaboration among researchers globally, and biostatisticians play a critical role in supporting these efforts. Shared datasets and software code, particularly those developed using time-intensive algorithms, are fundamental for fostering replicability and improving research efficiency for other scientists. Open access publications accompanied by publicly available data and code also help reduce disparities in knowledge access by making research materials available to researchers who might otherwise lack access. This presentation will explore data sharing principles and experiences, highlighting two recent studies: one on smoking behaviors in the United States and another on the association between caregiving and psychological well-being among Florida college students. The resulting datasets were shared under specific terms of use via Harvard Dataverse to facilitate further medical research. In addition, a subset of the tobacco use data and sample code were shared through the Resources Portal of the Teaching of Statistics in the Health Sciences Section of the American Statistical Association to support the teaching of survey methods. The presentation is intended for students, researchers, and practitioners interested in data sharing and open science.