Recent Posts by Alison Derbenwick Miller

(Don't miss our December 8, 2020 webinar with Internet2. Register here.) Cardiotoxicity. It’s a terrible-sounding word for an equally terrible circumstance: it describes when a drug to cure one ailment also does harm to a patient’s heart.  Cardiotoxicity is a serious and expensive problem for the pharmaceutical industry; nearly 10% of drugs in the past four decades have been pulled from the worldwide clinical market due to cardiovascular concerns, despite efforts to gauge...

In our current world, a good deal of energy in the health sciences has shifted toward understanding SARS-CoV-2, as well as treating and finding a vaccine against the disease it causes, COVID-19. Oracle for Research has been proud to collaborate with researchers working on these efforts. Yet, not all of our energy has been focused on COVID-19, as the same challenges that existed before the pandemic persist.  Over the past year, I have had the honor of working with researchers...

As both a technology visionary and ardent supporter of research, Oracle founder and CTO Larry Ellison is passionate about the intersection of technology, science and medicine.  Ellison understands cloud computing’s potential to expand our human capabilities, speed up research discovery, and improve our world.   In mid-2019, Oracle began formally supporting bold non-commercial research through a dedicated program called Oracle for Research. The program aims to accelerate...

In our attempts to encourage more students in the US to pursue computer science, we may be focusing too much on skills and not enough on the opportunities and stimulating work environments such skills make possible, according to a new study. The findings of the study—conducted by Couragion, funded by Oracle Academy, and based on data from 3,612 students in the US—could influence how we structure K-12 computer science education. For at least two decades, the US public...

Oracle Academy has announced new curriculum offerings and learning modules to advance computing education globally. The latest offerings put Oracle Academy at the forefront of public-private partnerships in education with a variety of enhanced, flexible formats that help educators teach computer science, bring emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) into the classroom, and inspire students with lessons from successful innovators...

As my own kids headed back to school recently after a long summer holiday, I have been reminded of the importance—and the challenge—of making a new school term engaging from the beginning.  Here are four things I believe can help beat the back-to-school blahs and start the term off with a bang: 1. Start with a topic that captures the imagination For students of all ages, school breaks are a time to learn whatever is interesting to them. Whether it be building a new world from...

I was fortunate this year to attend the Association for Computer Machinery’s SIGCSE (Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education) conference, where there was a good deal of conversation about what a modern computer science curriculum should include. Technology changes quickly and it can be difficult for academic programs to keep pace. Still, if computer science students are to contribute meaningfully to the field in either industry or research jobs, it’s critical that...

October 3 was a very exciting day for Oracle Academy. From the Oracle OpenWorld main stage, in front of an audience of 8,000 people, Thomas Kurian, Oracle’s president of product development, announced that Oracle Academy will join forces with the Bloodhound Education Foundation. Richard Noble, director of the Bloodhound Project, whose ambitious goal is to break the world land-speed record (763 miles per hour) on its way to exceeding the 1,000-mph mark, underlined the...

At Oracle Academy, Oracle’s flagship philanthropic educational program, we’re proud of the work we’ve done to support computer science (CS) education and make it accessible and engaging to students. Although Oracle is headquartered in the United States, the impact of Oracle Academy’s efforts can now be seen in 110 countries around the world. As we move into summer holidays and planning for our next academic year in the US, I want to share a few examples of our work in other...