Vesta Workshop May 31-June 1, 2025
We are excited to announce the upcoming workshop, “Introduction to Geospatial Temporal Analysis with Vesta,” scheduled for May 31 to June 1, 2025, at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, CT. This two-day event precedes the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR) 2025 Annual Conference and offers a unique opportunity to delve into advanced geospatial-temporal analysis using Vesta software.
As an added bonus, all participants will receive a free, 1-year single-user Vesta license!
Workshop Overview
Vesta, developed by BioMedware with support from the National Library of Medicine and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, is a cutting-edge tool designed to enhance visualization, hypothesis generation, and modeling of complex, multivariate datasets, particularly those related to health-environment interactions. This workshop aims to familiarize participants with Vesta’s capabilities, focusing on practical applications in cancer and environmental data analysis.
Who Should Attend And The Skills You’ll Gain
This workshop is ideal for cancer registry professionals, epidemiologists, public health researchers, data analysts, and GIS specialists who work with spatial and temporal data in health research. Attendees should have a basic understanding of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to fully benefit from the workshop. By participating, you will:
- Gain hands-on experience using Vesta to import, visualize, and analyze complex cancer data.
- Learn to detect clusters, outliers, and model temporal trends in geospatial datasets.
- Develop skills to conduct exploratory spatial data analysis using advanced statistical techniques including spatial joinpoint regression and geostatistics for compositional variables, among others.
- Understand how to adjust data across varying spatial resolutions for comprehensive analyses of their relationships.
- Provide valuable feedback that will shape future enhancements of the Vesta software.
Real-World Applications of Vesta in Cancer Research
Vesta could be instrumental in various research initiatives aimed at understanding cancer trends and their environmental determinants. Real-world potential applications include:
- Mapping Cancer Incidence in Relation to Environmental Exposures: Researchers might use Vesta to analyze the geographic distribution of lung cancer cases in relation to air pollution and industrial emissions, uncovering hotspots for targeted public health interventions.
- Temporal Analysis of Breast Cancer Trends: Public health officials could leverage Vesta to examine how breast cancer rates changed over two decades across rural and urban communities, guiding resource allocation for screening programs.
- Assessing Socioeconomic Disparities: Studies could utilize Vesta’s capabilities to correlate colorectal cancer incidences with socioeconomic factors, helping policymakers address healthcare access disparities.
- Evaluating the Impact of Environmental Policies: By visualizing changes in cancer rates following the cleanup of contaminated sites, Vesta could provide evidence of the positive effects of environmental regulations.
How Vesta Compares to Other Geospatial Analysis Tools
While several geospatial analysis tools are available for cancer research, Vesta distinguishes itself with its unique combination of features and user-centric design. Vesta’s interface is designed with the end-user in mind, requiring minimal coding expertise, unlike some tools that necessitate advanced programming knowledge. And unlike general GIS platforms, Vesta is purpose-built for health-environment datasets, ensuring that its features align with the needs of epidemiologists and cancer researchers. Here’s how it compares to other commonly used tools:
- Versus SaTScan: While SaTScan specializes in detecting spatial and space-time clusters, Vesta provides a broader range of visualization and exploratory data analysis tools, making it ideal for hypothesis generation and initial data exploration.
- Versus ArcGIS: ArcGIS is a robust GIS platform with extensive mapping capabilities, but it often requires additional plugins or statistical software for advanced temporal analysis. Vesta integrates spatial and temporal modeling in one platform with a focus on public health data.
- Versus GeoDa: GeoDa offers powerful spatial data analysis but lacks the dedicated temporal analysis capabilities that Vesta provides, which are essential for understanding trends over time in cancer data.
By choosing Vesta, users gain access to a specialized tool that streamlines the analysis of complex, multivariate cancer datasets with an emphasis on usability and actionable insights.
Agenda Highlights
The workshop will cover a comprehensive range of topics to equip attendees with practical skills in geospatial-temporal analysis:
- Data Import and Visualization: Learn to import and visualize space-time cancer data, both aggregated and individual-level, within Vesta.
- Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis: Utilize statistical brushing and linking techniques to explore spatial data patterns.
- Cluster and Outlier Detection: Apply the Local Indicators of Spatial Association (LISA) statistic to identify significant clusters and outliers.
- Geographical Joinpoint Regression: Model spatial variations in temporal trends to understand dynamic changes over time.
- Change of Spatial Support: Perform upscaling, downscaling, and side-scaling to assess data across different spatial resolutions.
On the second day, participants will have the opportunity to provide feedback and suggestions for future enhancements directly to the BioMedware team, who will be present to observe and record user experiences.
Registration Details
The workshop is offered at no cost, thanks to funding from the National Library of Medicine aimed at assessing usability and user experience. Registration includes continental breakfast, lunch, and afternoon beverage breaks. All participants will also receive a free, 1-year single-user Vesta license!
Please note that space is limited to 30 participants to ensure an interactive and personalized experience. The registration deadline is Friday, May 28, 2025. Secure your spot by creating a free account and registering here: Register Now.
Don’t miss this opportunity to enhance your geospatial-temporal analysis skills and contribute to the future of Vesta software. We look forward to your participation!