| Date: | February 22, 2019 |
| Time: | 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM |
| Venue: | Virginia Tech Roanoke Center |
| Description: |
The Virginia Tech Roanoke Center hosts the Opioid Datathon on Friday, February 22, 2019 and Saturday, February 23, 2019. According to the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse, over 20 percent of patients prescribed opioids for chronic pain misuse them, leading to an epidemic of addiction. In 2017, over 1,000 people died from opioid overdosing in Virginia alone (including prescription opioids, fentanyl and heroin). A Virginia Department of Health report says that opioid-related deaths in Roanoke quadrupled between 2016 and 2017. The 2019 Virginia Tech Roanoke Center Opioid Datathon is a competition organized in collaboration with the Urgent Love (http://www.urgentlove.org) Initiative of Southwest Virginia that will bring together bright, multi-discipline teams. Teams will analyze data sets and turn them into useful information that will support local initiatives and policies that are vital to managing the opioid crisis at the local and regional level. A total of 10 teams will be vetted and accepted by the Virginia Tech Roanoke Center. We would like five multi-discipline student (enrolled full-time in college) teams, along with five professional (not enrolled in college) teams. All participants must be age 18 or above. Prizes will be $1,000.00 for the overall team winner, $500.00 for the top student team and $500.00 for the top professional team. Each team will also receive gift cards from our generous community partner, Cabo Fish Taco. The day will be highlighted by research presentations, speakers and poster sessions. Teams are encouraged to work on their projects and presentations, as well as attend speaker sessions as they'd like. Data stewards from health and other relevant agencies across the region will provide non-sensitive, de-identified data to this challenge for the teams to explore and use. Public and open data sets will also be provided for use Both the public and teams are welcome to attend. Public attendees are welcome to hear speakers, view research and support the effort. Both team members and guests need to register and registration is free. To register, visit: https://events.eventzilla.net/e/2019-virginia-tech-roanoke-center-opioid-datathon-2138711267 Note: Teams are required to register as one unit, identifying each member. A light breakfast, lunch and refreshments will be provided to team members and volunteers, thanks to our generous community partners. We are looking forward to playing a part in the fight against opioids! The Virginia Tech Roanoke Center is located on the 7th floor of the Roanoke Higher Education Center at 108 N. Jefferson Street in Roanoke, VA. For more information, visit: http://www.vtrc.vt.edu/datathon or https://www.facebook.com/groups/VTData19/. |