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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health Education and Promotion
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1523873
Exploring the Landscape of Essential Health Data Science Skills and Research Challenges: A Survey of Stakeholders in Africa, Asia, and Latin America & the Caribbean
Provisionally accepted
Sally Boylan 1*
Agklinta Kiosia 1,2
Matthew Retford 1
Larissa Pruner Marques 3
Flávia Thedim Costa Bueno 3
Md. Islam 4
Anne Wozencraft 1*- 1 Health Data Research UK, London, United Kingdom
- 2 Imperial College London, London, England, United Kingdom
- 3 Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- 4 International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research (ICDDR), Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Background: Data science approaches have been pivotal in addressing public health challenges. However, there has been limited focus on identifying essential data science skills for health researchers, gaps in capacity building provision, barriers to access, and potential solutions.Objectives: This review aims to identify essential data science skills for health researchers and key stakeholders in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), as well as to explore gaps and barriers in data science capacity building and share potential solutions, including any regional variations.Methods: An online survey was conducted in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese, gathering both quantitative and qualitative responses. Descriptive analysis was performed in R V4.3, and a thematic workshop approach facilitated qualitative analysis.Findings: From 262 responses from individuals across 54 low-and middle-income countries (LMICs), representing various institutions and roles, we summarised essential data science skills globally and by region. Thematic analysis revealed key gaps and barriers in capacity building, including limited training resources, lack of mentoring, challenges with data quality, infrastructure and privacy issues, and the absence of a conducive research environment.Respondents' consensus on essential data science skills suggests the need for a standardised framework for capacity building, adaptable to regional contexts. Greater investment, coupled with expanded collaboration and networking, would help address gaps and barriers, fostering a robust data science ecosystem and advancing insights into global health challenges.
Keywords: Essential Data Science Skills, data science, Capacity Building, Global health research, Low-and middle-income countries, Global health challenges
Received: 06 Nov 2024; Accepted: 27 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Boylan, Kiosia, Retford, Pruner Marques, Thedim Costa Bueno, Islam and Wozencraft. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Sally Boylan, Health Data Research UK, London, United Kingdom
Anne Wozencraft, Health Data Research UK, London, United Kingdom
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.