Weekly Program - Own Your Body's Data

Dr. Talithia Williams is an Associate Professor of Mathematics at Harvey Mudd College. Her professional experiences include research appointments at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the National Security Agency (NSA), and NASA. Dr. Williams develops statistical models that emphasize the spatial and temporal structure of data with environmental applications. She has been recognized for the development of a cataract model used to predict the cataract surgical rate for developing countries in Africa.

In addition to her academic accomplishments, Dr. Williams and her husband, Donald, actively teach and share foundational principles regarding the joys of Christian marriage. Dr. Williams’ talk will explore how each of us can begin to collect data about ourselves that can provide insight into our personal health.

 

The new breed of high-tech self-monitors (measuring heartrate, sleep, steps per day) might seem targeted at competitive athletes. But Talithia Williams, a statistician, makes a compelling case that all of us should be measuring and recording simple data about our bodies every day — because our own data can reveal much more than even our doctors may know.  This TedX Talk Claremont Colleges was filmed in February, 2014 and is available with six different languages in subtitles: