NIDA Data Science Workgroup: A Simple and Field-Aware S-index for Promoting and Rewarding Data Sharing

📝 Event Description

The NIDA Data Science Workgroup will host a session dedicated to the NIH Data Sharing Index (S-index) Challenge. The workgroup coordinates data science activities across the National Institute on Drug Abuse and serves as a forum for NIDA staff to exchange ideas, share updates, and shape data science research initiatives related to substance use and addiction.

Sharing research data is now expected under the NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy, but the academic reward system still largely counts papers and grants, not datasets. Without a way to measure the value of shared data, researchers have little reason to invest the extra effort needed to make their data reusable. The S-index Challenge asked teams to design a metric that would make that contribution visible, giving researchers, institutions, and funders a common way to recognize data sharing in hiring, promotion, and funding decisions.

The session will open with an overview of the Challenge from Amberlynn Reed, M.P.H. (National Eye Institute), followed by presentations from three teams sharing their approaches to measuring data-sharing impact:

• A simple and field-aware S-index for promoting and rewarding data sharing – Bhavesh Patel, Ph.D. (California Medical Innovations Institute) & Team
• The SHARE Index: a unified metric for recognizing exemplary data sharing behavior – Shuhan He, M.D. (ConductScience) & Team
• Engaging key stakeholder communities to promote data sharing and reuse, and to understand impact through a composite S-index – Griffin Weber, M.D., Ph.D. (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center) & Team

The session will be moderated by Ming Zhan, Ph.D., and Janet Kuramoto-Crawford, Ph.D., M.H.S., and will close with a discussion.

💡 Our Role / Contribution

Bhavesh Patel will give a 10-minute presentation followed by 5 minutes of Q&A on the team's simple and field-aware S-index, along with Scholar Data, a platform inspired by Google Scholar that measures the scientific impact of shared datasets.

📍 Location

Virtual

🗓 Date and Time

Tuesday, September 15, 2026 · 12:00 – 1:00 PM ET
Bhavesh Patel's presentation: 12:12 – 12:27 PM ET