Publications & Presentations
Our Office has produced significant publications addressing critical challenges in data management, privacy, and public health surveillance. Our research team has made notable contributions to improving HIV surveillance systems through innovative matching algorithms and data-sharing methodologies, while also advancing ethical frameworks for big data science. These publications reflect our commitment to developing technological solutions that balance data utility with privacy protection and ethical consideration in a data-driven world.
Cross-Jurisdictional Data Sharing: Use of the ATra Black Box for Deduplicating Cases in the National HIV Surveillance System
In 2018, Georgetown University was awarded a 5-year grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, PS18-1805, to deduplicate people across HIV surveillance jurisdictions using the ATra Black Box, an electronic privacy-ensuring system developed by Georgetown University that allows for the secure and streamlined exchange of data between public health jurisdictions. We outline the processes that Georgetown University undertook to engage public health jurisdictions, and we provide results of the Black Box matching sessions from November 2018 through May 2024.
Using the ATra Black Box to Improve Public Health Data Linkages and Analytics in the DC Cohort Longitudinal HIV Study: Viewpoint on the Process and Findings
The “Ending the HIV Epidemic in the US” initiative, introduced by the US Department of Health and Human Services in 2019, and the National HIV Strategic Plan: 2021‐2025, introduced by the US Department of Health and Human Services in 2021, focus on reducing new HIV infections and ensuring people with HIV are in care and achieve viral suppression [ 1, 2]. They track progress through metrics, such as linkage and retention in HIV care and viral load suppression, using a variety of sources, including health department surveillance data and electronic health records (EHRs).
Enhancing the ATra Black Box Matching Algorithm: Use of All Names for Deduplication Across Jurisdictions
Hamp, A. D., Karn, H. E., Kwon, F. Y., Rhodes, A., Carrier, J., Bhattacharjee, R., Flynn, C., Hsu, T., McNeice, J., Anderson, B. J., Chicoine, J., Fridge, J., King, J., Lum, G. R., Mishra, T., Kang, A., & Smart, J. C. (2022). Enhancing the ATra Black Box Matching Algorithm: Use of All Names for Deduplication Across Jurisdictions. Public Health Reports. https://doi.org/10.1177/00333549211066171
Improving HIV Surveillance Data by Using the ATra Black Box System to Assist Regional Deduplication Activities
Ocampo JMF, Hamp A, Rhodes A, Smart JC, et al. (2019) Improving HIV Surveillance Data by Using the ATra Black Box System to Assist Regional Deduplication Activities, JAIDS Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes: September 1, 2019 – Volume 82 – Issue – p S13-S19 doi: 10.1097/QAI.0000000000002090
Improving HIV Surveillance Data for Public Health Action in Washington, DC: A Novel Multiorganizational Data-Sharing Method
Ocampo JMF, Smart JC, Allston A, Bhattacharjee R, Boggavarapu S, Carter S, Castel AD, Collmann J, Flynn C, Hamp A, Jordan D, Kassaye S, Kharfen M, Lum G, Pemmaraju R, Rhodes AG, Stover J, Young MA. (2016). Improving HIV Surveillance Data for Public Health Action in Washington, DC: A Novel Multiorganizational Data-Sharing Method. JMIR Public Health Surveillance, 2(1): e3 URL: http://publichealth.jmir.org/2016/1/e3. DOI: 10.2196/publichealth.5317
Embedding Privacy and Ethical Values in Big Data Technology
Michael Steinmann, Julia Shuster, Jeff Collmann, Sorin Matei, Rochelle Tractenberg, Kevin FitzGerald, Greg Morgan, Douglas Richardson
Transparency on Social Media: Tools, Methods and Algorithms for Mediating Online Interactions.
Editors: Matei, Sorin Adam, Russell, Martha G., Bertino, Elisa (Eds.)
New York: Springer Publishing House. 2015
Using Ethical Reasoning to Amplify the Reach and Resonance of Professional Codes of Conduct in Training Big Data Scientists
Rochelle E. Tractenberg, Andrew J. Russell, Gregory J. Morgan, Kevin T. FitzGerald, Jeff Collmann, Lee Vinsel, Michael Steinmann, Lisa M. Dolling
Amplifying the Reach and Resonance of Ethical Codes of Conduct.
SpringerLink. 2014
Abstract: The use of Big Data-however the term is defined-involves a wide array of issues and stakeholders, thereby increasing numbers of complex decisions around issues including data acquisition, use, and sharing. Big Data is becoming a significant component of practice in an ever-increasing range of disciplines; however, since it is not a coherent “discipline” itself, specific codes of conduct for Big Data users and researchers do not exist. While many institutions have created, or will create, training opportunities (e.g., degree programs, workshops) to prepare people to work in and around Big Data, insufficient time, space, and thought have been dedicated to training these people to engage with the ethical, legal, and social issues in this new domain. Since Big Data practitioners come from, and work in, diverse contexts, neither a relevant professional code of conduct nor specific formal ethics training are likely to be readily available. This normative paper describes an approach to conceptualizing ethical reasoning and integrating it into training for Big Data use and research. Our approach is based on a published framework that emphasizes ethical reasoning rather than topical knowledge. We describe the formation of professional community norms from two key disciplines that contribute to the emergent field of Big Data: computer science and statistics. Historical analogies from these professions suggest strategies for introducing trainees and orienting practitioners both to ethical reasoning and to a code of professional conduct itself. We include two semester course syllabi to strengthen our thesis that codes of conduct (including and beyond those we describe) can be harnessed to support the development of ethical reasoning in, and a sense of professional identity among, Big Data practitioners/
Presentations
APHA Poster 2025: A poster presentation at the American Public Health Association 2025 Annual Conference on the Georgetown Black Box projects.
CSTE Names Poster 2021: A poster presentation at the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists annual conference on the enhancement to the Black Box matching algorithm that utilized all names for a person in the HIV surveillance system.
CSTE Residential Address Poster 2021: A poster presentation at the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists annual conference on the enhancement to the Black Box analytics that allowed for automated updating of residential address in the HIV surveillance system.