Learn more about the IDA’s Southern Regional Drug Data Research Center (DDRC), funded by the United States Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance to help communities across the Southeast combat the opioid crisis.
Registration for these sessions is separate from the Symposium and not required. Let us know you’re coming or interested in finding out more about the DDRC!
Session One: Accessible Drug Data to Drive Contextualized Decision-Making: Introduction to the Southern Regional Drug-Data Research Center (DDRC)
In this session, discover the new Southern Regional Drug Data Research Center (DDRC), a centralized data repository focused on opioid and drug data across 17 states in the southern half of the US: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. Learn about the DDRC’s mission to consolidate information, provide resources to communities, and serve as a central hub for data analysis and knowledge dissemination. We will explore the DDRC’s data frameworks and underlying theories, demonstrating how it integrates and analyzes drug data to support evidence-based decision-making, promote contextualized knowledge, optimize resource allocation, and inform public policy and community interventions.
Session Two: Harnessing DDRC Data: Practical Applications, Interactive Visualizations, and Research Opportunities
Dive into the practical side of the DDRC with this detailed session. Discover the range of data currently available through our platform and see how it is presented using interactive visualizations created with Power BI. This presentation will showcase the user-friendly tools designed for public engagement and demonstrate how researchers and the public can utilize this data for studies and informed decision-making. Learn about real-world applications and the potential impact of DDRC’s data on addressing drug-related challenges.
| Time | Session Title |
| 9:30 – 10:00 A.M. | Morning Refreshments |
| 10:00 – 10:45 A.M. | Accessible Drug Data to Drive Contextualized Decision-Making: Introduction to the Southern Regional Drug-Data Research Center (DDRC) |
| 10:45 – 11:00 A.M. | Break |
| 11:00 – 11:45 A.M. | Harnessing DDRC Data: Practical Applications, Interactive Visualizations, and Research Opportunities |
| 11:45 – 1:00 P.M. | Afternoon Refreshments |
| 1:00 – 3:00 P.M. | Principles of Data Visualization Workshop |
| 3:00 – 4:00 P.M. | Panel Session: Industry & Academic Applications of Generative AI |
| 4:00 – 5:30 P.M. | Reception/Mixer |
Workshop: Data Visualization Principles
In this 2-hour workshop, participants will gain a foundational understanding of data visualization principles and techniques. This session will cover which types of visualizations are appropriate for various types of data. Attendees will get hands-on experience with popular data visualization tools, learning how to transform raw data into insightful resources to support strategic decision-making. By the end of the workshop, participants will be equipped with the skills to create compelling visualizations that enhance data interpretation and communication.
Panel Discussion: Industry and Academic Applications of Generative AI
Generative AI is a branch of artificial intelligence that creates new data from training data. In recent years, we have seen dramatic advancements in the technology across numerous domains, such as natural language processing, computer vision, audio synthesis, and more. In this panel session, we will explore the opportunities and challenges of this cutting-edge technology in industry and academics.
| Time | Activity |
| 7:15 AM – 8:00 AM | Registration and Light Breakfast |
| 8:00 AM – 8:15 AM | Welcome |
| 8:15 AM – 9:00 AM | Derek Camp, Milo’s |
| 9:00 AM – 9:15 AM | Transition |
| 9:15 AM – 10:00 AM | Jeremy Dumond, Land O’ Lakes |
| 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM | Poster Session | Rast A&B- Bryant Conference Center |
| 11:00 AM – 11:45 AM | Allison Martell, Thomson-Reuters |
| 11:45 PM – 1:00 PM | Lunch | Sellers Lobby – Bryant Conference Center |
| 1:00 PM – 1:45 PM | Jack Swearhart, Presented by: Xylem |
| 1:45 PM – 2:00 PM | Transition |
| 2:00 PM – 2:45 PM | Reeyaz Hamirani, Paramount Pictures |
| 2:45 PM – 3:15 PM | Awards & Closing Remarks |
Derek Camp is the Senior Manager of Operational Analytics for Milo’s Tea Company. During his 11 years at Milo’s, Derek has served in analytical roles providing actionable insights in the areas of replenishment, sales, logistics, supply chain, quality, production, and maintenance. He currently manages a team that provides analytical support for Milo’s Operations. He holds a B.A. and M.A. from The University of Alabama.
The Role of a Data Analyst and How They Impact An Organization
The exact role of Data Analyst can vary depending on the organization, but the tasks generally revolve around the following items: reporting, automating, and generating insights. These tasks allow the company to measure KPIs, save time and make improvements. But Analysts can multiply this impact by having technical skills, domain knowledge and soft skills. Technical skills provide speed, domain knowledge provides greater insights and soft skills provide the relationship for implementation. In this presentation, I will speak about these six items in greater detail and provide real world examples that show the impact of a Data Analyst.
Jeremy Dumond is the Senior Director of Research, Insights & Analytics for the Dairy Foods division of Land O’Lakes, Inc. Jeremy leads a talented team of over 50 professionals with expertise in a range of topics spanning the entire business cycle in today’s dynamic Consumer Packaged Goods world. Working in close partnership with Research & Development, Marketing, Sales, Finance and Information Technology, Jeremy’s team provides best-in-class Thought Leadership to a division with annual sales in excess of $4 billion providing market access for over 13 billion pounds of milk annually.
Artificial Intelligence in the Food Marketing Industry
Over the past several years, Jeremy’s team has driven a key initiative in partnership with the Land O’Lakes Foodservice sales and marketing teams to identify the highest opportunity sales targets for their highly valuable ‘Performance Cheese’ line of products. With hundreds of thousands of restaurants across the country, rapidly changing market conditions and a capacity constrained supply chain, it is imperative to optimize every Sales call and Marketing dollar invested. Additionally, new capabilities emerging in the Artificial Intelligence space offer exciting new opportunities to enhance these efforts and are underway in 2024. Jeremy will share the journey of this critical work, the impact that it has had on business results, and the exciting future ahead as technology and big data continue to drive opportunities for growth.
As the VP of Global Analytics at Paramount Pictures, Reeyaz Hamirani leads a multidisciplinary team that combines art with science to deliver insights that help the studio greenlight the most in-demand movies and maximize their potential in the marketing & distribution window.
Prior to joining Paramount Pictures – he built the analytics and audience intelligence practice within Lionsgate’s theatrical marketing department and served as Head of Creative Advertising for the Lionsgate Premiere slate of multi-platform films.
Before transitioning into entertainment – Reeyaz wore many hats at a marketing technology and identity management startup that has since been acquired by SAP, and flexed his early analytical muscles evaluating professional basketball prospects at a sports agency.
Passionate about diversity, inclusion, representation, and depiction within the entertainment and technology industries — Reeyaz supports several DEIA initiatives at Paramount Pictures and was one of the founding Executive Board members of Lionsgate’s Multicultural Employee Resource Group (MERG).
A Geo-“Political” Approach to Entertainment & Consumer Behavior
The Global Analytics & Data Science Team from Paramount Pictures has a unique approach to entertainment, which leverages a geographical strategy similar to how a political candidate would assess and optimize an election campaign. In this talk, Reeyaz Hamirani will shed light on how the team combines census data, box office data, content metadata, and more to establish correlative KPIs and identify “core” and “swing” markets for films. This approach gives the team an in-depth understanding of consumer behavior throughout the entire lifecycle of a movie, and unlocks the ability to produce impactful insights that aid greenlight, marketing, and distribution.
Allison Martell is a deputy editor with Reuters, part of the investigative data journalism team, where she is developing ways to use artificial intelligence in news gathering. Before joining the team she covered a range of business beats, including aviation, the automotive industry, railways, retail, mining and metals. She is based in Toronto, Canada.
Using Data to Investigate the World
Data work has become a core part of investigative journalism, helping us find secrets, zero in on harm and explain big stories. As machine learning becomes the state of the art for more and more data tasks, that also means using artificial intelligence in investigations. We will discuss real data-driven investigative stories, their impact on the world, and what we learned from them.
Jack is the Vice President of Global Solutions Operations responsible for delivering Xylem’s digital portfolio. He brings extensive experience in Cloud Services, Cyber Security, and outcome based solutions aligning to the utility sector. His team founded the smart metering Software as a Service business within Xylem which has grown to nearly 2000 unique utility customers in North American alone.
Topic: Utility adoption of Managed Solutions – a focus on cybersecurity considerations.