Health Data Research UK Internship

Dolapo was studying for a Masters in Data Science at Manchester Metropolitan University when he heard about the Health Data Science Black Internship Programme. The programme, run by Health Data Research UK (HDR UK), tackles underrepresentation of Black people within the health data science sector by providing talented individuals with an opportunity to expand their knowledge and gain the experience they need to kickstart, or advance, a health data science career.

The Franklin’s Artificial Intelligence and Informatics team has been involved in the programme since 2021 and it brings many benefits, according to the team’s Science Director, Dr Mark Basham.

“There are often small projects that we’d love to do, but rarely have the time, as they aren’t critical, but would be ‘nice to have’,” he explains. “Having two people on board to dedicate time to these projects is really valuable. The internships allow us to explore new avenues, some of which may turn out to be dead ends, but others are incredibly useful. We’ve already been able to leverage funding from some of the insights gained through the work of our interns.”

“Running the internships gives members of the team really useful experience, both in terms of managing staff and in Agile project management, which we’ve found works well for these types of projects. The internships are a useful template for short term collaborations with external partners, enabling us to test that we have the right infrastructure to provide secure access to our systems and data for a limited time period.”

The challenge given to Dolapo and his co-intern, Netochukwu Onyiaji, was to identify metrics by which the quality of 3D microscopy images could be automatically assessed, to determine the value of experimental data.

“When imaging biological samples, it can be difficult to identify the best quality images,” Mark explains. “We generally find one metric that seems to work, and run with that, because we don’t have time to explore other options in detail. We asked the interns to investigate this further, to look at other potential metrics, including ones we’d rejected for lack of time, to see what they could come up with.”

For Dolapo, the experience of working at the Franklin was transformational.

“I could see for the first time how my knowledge could be used in the scientific field, which wasn’t an area I’d really considered myself qualified for before,” he recalls. “I gained so many new skills, particularly in software engineering. We were using object orientated programming, which I’d never done before. I learned how to optimise code, how to collaborate using GitHub. It was brilliant.”

For Mark, the way the Health Data Science Black Internship Programme is run is part of its appeal.

“We get to choose from some extremely talented and high-quality candidates, who are pre-screened by the programme,” he explains. “The interns are part of a bigger cohort across the UK who are provided with additional activities and training as part of the scheme. This means that at the Franklin our focus is just on the project, so the interns can get the most out of their time with us.”

Although he worked remotely for most of his internship, Dolapo spent three days at the Franklin to meet the Artificial Intelligence and Informatics team and the scientists they would be working with.

“Coming to the Harwell Campus, seeing the Synchrotron at Diamond and meeting the scientists at the Franklin was just amazing,” says Dolapo. “Although most of the work was done remotely, I still felt very much part of team and very supported, with regular meetings with our supervisor, who was really responsive if we ever needed help.”

When the internship finished, Dolapo completed his Masters, using many of the skills he’d learnt during the internship for his final dissertation. And when he saw a job opening at the Franklin, he jumped at it.

“I think I was one of the first to get my CV in, and obviously my previous experience on the internship stood me in good stead,” he says. “I’m so grateful to the HDR UK and the Black Internship Programme, because without that, I would never have known of the Franklin and wouldn’t be here now.”