Episodes

In this special retrospective episode of Decoding the Data Ecosystem, host LaFrancis Gibson, project manager and contract PI for the CFDE Training Center, sits down with Dr. Allissa Dillman, Training and Engagement Director of the CFDE Training Center, to look back on the podcast's first year. The two reflect on the origins of the podcast and its role in making complex omics data more discoverable and usable across disciplines, discussing the critical importance of interdisciplinary collaboratio...

As part of the 34th Conference on Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology (ISMB), the BOSC 2026 CoFest was a two-day work session to provide an opportunity for anyone interested in open science, biology or programming to meet, talk and work collaboratively. This podcast showcases the final presentations which include a range of topics including AI-assisted metadata generation, protein structure visualization, reproducible research, FAIR data practices and more!

The CFDE Training Center was a sponsor of the Bio-IT World Hackathon, held May 18 – 19, 2026, and facilitated by Dr. Allissa Dillman. The event focused on Open Source and FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) data principles leveraging CFDE omics data and integrating CFDE tools, with a goal of improving interoperability across datasets to accelerate discoveries. This podcast episode is a showcase of the six final presentations from the 2026 Hackathon.

Description In this month’s podcast, Allissa Dillman chats with Swathi Thaker, Program Manager for the CFDE Integration and Coordination Center (ICC). They discuss how the ICC encourages and facilitates collaboration across institutions, data coordinating centers, and programs, as well as how new CFDE partners and early career researchers can start engaging with the CFDE. Guest Swathi Thaker, PhD Guest Bio Swathi Thaker, PhD is the Program Manager for the CFDE Integration and Coordination C...

Description In this crossover podcast with “Trends from the Trenches,” Allison Proffitt, executive editor of Bio-IT World, interviews Allissa Dillman and LaFrancis Gibson from the CFDE Training Center about this year’s Bio-IT World Conference & Expo Hackathon. They discuss which tools and datasets from CFDE will be part of the Hackathon, who should participate, learning and collaborating beyond datasets and tools, FAIR principles in an ever-developing AI environment, and a message beyond the te...

Description In this podcast, Allissa Dillman talks with Raja Mazumder, René Ranzinger, and Michael Tiemeyer about their journeys in glycoscience and the goals of the GlyGen program. GlyGen integrates glycan and glycoinformatics data from various sources, making it an accessible and comprehensive online resource for researchers. They also discuss the challenges of working with glycan data, including its structural complexity and variability. They cover several workflows using GlyGen resources, h...

Episode 14: Investigating Acute to Chronic Pain Signatures (A2CPS) for Advancing Pain Prevention Strategies Description In this episode, Allissa Dillman chats with Margaret Taub, a Senior Scientist with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health on her journey from mathematics to statistical genetics, highlighting her current role with the Acute to Chronic Pain Signatures (A2CPS) program. The A2CPS study aims to develop predictive biomarkers for chronic pain by collecting comprehensiv...

Description In this episode, Allissa Dillman talks with John Kwagyan about the transformative potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) in genomics and personalized medicine as well as the promise of these technologies in analyzing complex biological data to advance disease prediction, prevention, and personalized treatments. They also discuss machine learning models, the differences between machine learning and statistical learning, explainable AI, and ethical conside...

Description In this video podcast, Allissa Dillman and Andreas Bueckle discuss and demonstrate the Human Reference Atlas (HRA) Organ Gallery, a virtual reality (VR) application that lets users explore the HRA in immersive 3D. Andreas also presents the “HRA Powers of Ten,” a data integration module in development that uses the HRA Common Coordinate Framework (CCF) to harmonize, visualize, and explore data from the small/large intestine, lymph node, skin, and liver. The HRA Organ Gallery is avail...

Episode 11: Reproducible Voice Data as a Biomarker for AI Models Description In this episode, Allissa Dillman chats with David Dorr and Andrea Krussel about their roles in the Bridge2AI (https://bridge2ai.org/) program, which aims to enhance AI readiness by improving data standards and developing machine learning practices. Co-PIs in B2AI Voice (https://b2ai-voice.org/voice-ai-summer-school/), Dorr and Krussel discussed their work on creating reproducible voice data as a biomarker for AI model...

Episode 10: Overview of the Common Fund Data Ecosystem and how the Training Center supports the CFDE Description The National Institutes of Health Common Fund Data Ecosystem (CFDE) aims to enable broad use of Common Fund data to accelerate discovery. NIH Common Fund programs generate a wide range of diverse and valuable data sets and knowledge designed to be used by the research community. The CFDE aims to facilitate improved discovery, reuse, integration, and analyses of these datasets to for...

Episode 09: MoTrPAC and the Science of Fitness Description In this episode, Allissa Dillman chats with researchers Malene Lindholm and Dan Katz about their work on MoTrPAC. Malene has a 20-year background in molecular exercise physiology and Dan started his medical training in cardiology and now uses high-dimensional data to understand heart failure. MoTrPAC (Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity Consortium) is a NIH-funded initiative studying exercise effects across multiple sites in the...

Episode 08: An Early Career Researcher’s Experience with the Common Fund Data Ecosystem Description In this episode, Allissa Dillman interviews Seth Berke about his educational journey from pre-med to genomics, and the importance of public datasets and cloud computing in scientific research. Seth highlights the value of, and opportunities provided by the Common Fund Data Ecosystem for early career researchers, shares insights on integrating multiple types of biomedical data, and offers advice ...

Episode 07: Insights into Training and Engagement with CFDE Data Description In this episode, Allissa Dillman chats with Kelli Bursey about the current state of training and mentoring within the Common Fund Data Ecosystem (CFDE), and Diane Krause about academic engagement with CFDE datasets. This information was gathered by the Training Center as part of a mixed-methods landscape analysis used to identify necessary CFDE data science skills for CFDE learners, describe the existing CFDE training...

Episode 06: Integrating Biomedical Knowledge at Scale with Petagraph Description In this episode, Allissa Dillman and Ben Stear discuss knowledge graphs and why they are useful. Tune in as they explore how these tools integrate vast and diverse datasets into unified, queryable networks that support discovery and predictive modeling. Ben shares how knowledge graphs like Petagraph are advancing FAIR data principles, enabling new research insights, and laying the foundation for future integration...

Episode 05: Bio-IT World Hackathon Final Presentations Description The CFDE Training Center was a sponsor of the Bio-IT World Hackathon, held April 1 – 2, 2025. The event was facilitated by Dr. Allissa Dillman from CFDE Training Center. The event focused on Open Source and FAIR Data (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles, and an emphasis was placed on projects leveraging omics data and integrating CFDE tools, with a goal of improving interoperability across datasets to acce...

Episode 4: How the Data Resource Center Uses the FAIR Principles to Increase Accessibility and Interoperability Description This month, join Dr. Allissa Dillman and guest Dr. Shankar Subramaniam, a PI of the Common Fund Data Ecosystem (CFDE) Data Resource Center (DRC), as they discuss the DRC role in integrating and making Common Fund data more accessible. They will highlight the CFDE Workbench, a robust information and data portal designed to help researchers access, analyze, and understand l...

Episode 3: Navigating the Common Fund Data Ecosystem’s Data & Resources to Empower Scientific Discoveries Description This month, tune in to Dr. Allissa Dillman and Jennifer Burnette, CFDE Training Center Project Director, as they introduce the goals and initiatives of the CFDE Training Center (TC). They highlight a new Mentoring Program Pilot launching as a 10-week virtual program from June to August, where mentee teams will work on open-source projects using CFDE datasets. Guest Bio Jennif...

Episode 2: Reproducibility and Training on the Elements of Style Description Join Dr. Allissa Dillman and guest Dr. Anne Deslattes Mays, creator of the Kids First & INCLUDE Elements of Style in Workflow Creation 5-day training. They will discuss ways to make bioinformatics projects more reproducible and accessible, the role of instructors and trainers in lowering the barriers to accessibility, community collaboration’s impact on reproducible research, and what makes the Kids First dataset uniq...

Episode 1: Unveiling the Strengths of the CFDE: A Resource for All Researchers Description In the inaugural episode of the Decoding the Data Ecosystem: A CFDE Training Center Podcast, join Dr. Allissa Dillman as she engages in an enlightening conversation with Noël Burtt, the Principal Investigator for the CFDE Knowledge Center at the Broad Institute. With a background in molecular biology and human genetics, Noël brings a wealth of knowledge and insight into the broad applications of the CFDE...