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Featured Researcher – Christopher Bartlett, PhD

Featured Researcher – Christopher Bartlett, PhD 150 150 Alaina Doklovic

Throughout Dr. Bartlett’s career, he has dedicated his time to the development of innovative statistical methods to enhance our understanding of childhood development, from pre-term birth to young adulthood. Specializing in the design and application of data analytic paradigms, his work significantly contributes to elucidating the complex interplay between environmental factors and childhood intrinsic characteristics.

His lab uses a blend of clinical data, genetics, and hypothesis-driven informatics to address specific scientific questions. Alongside more traditional research, he conducts studies leveraging big data approaches, including machine learning and artificial intelligence, on both large structured datasets and unstructured data such as images. Much of his work focuses on extracting information from complex sources of raw data that contain data not missing randomly.

Read on to learn more about Dr. Bartlett’s work and research career.

What was your path to your current role?

When King Ptolemy asked Euclid if there was an easier way to learn geometry than going through his book titled “Elements,” Euclid responded that “There’s no royal road geometry.” My career lacked a well paved road of any kind, be it royal, forked or yellow brick.  Robert Frost’s “The Road Less Traveled” is best prose to capture how I got here.

Just like the traveler in the poem, who was sad that they couldn’t follow all paths in the wood, I too wonder what would have happened if I followed a traditional career path and stayed in my lane. Instead, I went where I was most interested and hoped my passion and zeal would get me through any difficulties. My research career was an experiment that I did not know would work.

I started in applied statistics, moved to neuroscience and ended up in the computational side of neurogenetics, moving to a postdoc in theoretical modeling, and starting a lab in applied genetics. However, I have walked the road less traveled all the way into machine learning and artificial intelligence as the years go by, and even into the modern physics of quantum computing. In my role as Associate Chief Data Sciences Officer, I get share what I’ve learned with the entire research institute. That’s just where the road less traveled took me.

What is your favorite part of your role?

Pediatric research is deeply fulfilling, no one wants any child to be sick or have troubles of any kind. It’s what keeps me passionate and motivated every day.  On top of that, there’s nothing quite like the moment when a new finding or technology opens up possibilities for better understanding or treating a condition.

How does your research serve our patients and our community?

When I speak with potential collaborators, I always ask about how we can make an impact.  I have enough long-term work on my mind, but I am always seeking ways to leverage my skills as a force multiplier in the intermediate to near term.  I want to visualize how I can apply my skills with data and artificial intelligence to make their work more impactful.  I also work on increasing the impact of researchers throughout the institution by focusing on making large datasets available using plain language AI tools and streamlining the processes for leveraging data.  It is a very fun time to be a researcher, and I can’t wait to see what people build with the data products I work on in the Office of Data Sciences.

Fun Facts About Dr. Bartlett

What fictional character would you most like to meet and why?

Sherlock Holmes by a mile. While it is true that his form of logic is quite error-prone in the real world, I admire his relentless dedication to finding the truth.

What’s your favorite word, and why?

The word “cloud” always reminds me of my wife, so it is my favorite word to see in the wild.

What would be your dream job if you could do anything (that wasn’t working in research)?

I would be an author, probably the starving kind, but an author nonetheless. I had it all planned out that if I didn’t get tenure, I would write the great American novel as interpreted through my particular experiences, such as they are. After I got tenure, several of my colleagues expressed that they wished they could have read that book. We’ll have to wait till retirement.

Favorite band/genre/artist?

For reasons I have yet to understand, Robert Plant’s solo career is my most listened-to artist on Pandora and Spotify, even though I wouldn’t actually use the word favorite to describe how I feel about his music. It feels like my favorite should be something from my youth, but I guess age has mellowed me more than I fathom.

Favorite way to relax?

I love narratives of all kinds, so theater, dance, watching movies, watching TV with my family, or reading a book are my go-to ways to relax.

About the author

Alaina Doklovic is a Marketing Specialist for Research Communications at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. She received her BS in medical anthropology and English from The Ohio State University. Her passions for science and health, combined with her desire to help others, motivated her to pursue a career in which she could actively help improve patient outcomes and scientific research through writing.

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