Data across disciplines

Building a community of PhD students working in interdisciplinary data science fields is the focus of the new Peter Salovey and Marta Moret Data Science Fellows Program. Launching in spring 2026, the program will offer mentoring, professional development, and outreach opportunities for an interdisciplinary cohort of doctoral students.

During the program’s inaugural year, Dr. Bhramar Mukherjee, PhD, senior associate dean for data science at the Yale School of Public Health (YSPH), will co-chair the program’s steering committee with Dr. John Lafferty, PhD, the John C. Malone Professor of Statistics and Data Science in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS). FAS will lead the program’s community engagement activities including mentoring undergraduate students, organizing outreach events at local schools, and teaching in the Big Data Summer Immersion undergraduate summer program at YSPH.

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to help build an intellectually dynamic and socially aware community." “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to help build an intellectually dynamic and socially aware community, practicing data science with rigor, ethics, and humanism,” Mukherjee said.

Jackson Higginbottom, MPH ’20, program manager of YSPH’s Public Health Data Science and Data Equity initiative will serve as the program’s assistant director. (See related story, “Deep ties make sure OKC free clinic keeps making a difference.”)

The program is named for former Yale President Peter Salovey, Sterling Professor of Psychology, and Marta Moret, MPH ’84, Yale’s former first lady. During his tenure as Yale president, Salovey supported data-driven research as a university priority. He also championed the decision in 2022 to make YSPH an independent school.

Jim Shelton contributed to this report.