The Forge is Duke University’s center for health data science. Based in the Duke University School of Medicine and led by Vice Chancellor for Health Data Science Dr. Robert M. Califf,  the Forge is part of a community spanning the university, the Duke health system, and beyond that is using data science to develop actionable insights and improve health outcomes. Dr. Califf is joined by a diverse team of scholars, clinicians, and experts from multiple disciplines who represent Duke’s campus-wide interest in health data science. The Forge is a symbol of creation through transformation—a transformation that requires arduous work but results in lasting tools capable of solving big problems. 

Duke Forge's primary mission is to free the data to enable actionable insights and measurements that will guide implementation efforts across health systems. We will do this by:

• Breaking through barriers to data access while ensuring data integrity and protecting privacy
• Organizing, curating, and disseminating information to improve its usefulness to researchers and the public
• Applying the full spectrum of data science tools and expertise to answering the hard problems of health and healthcare
• Engaging in ways that allow our university and its health system to partner effectively with the people and communities they serve
• Developing alliances and partnerships

A painstaking, iterative approach to evaluating and incorporating new data, interpreting it through the lens of clinical insight, and refining methods: these are the critical elements that move our teams toward their goals of improving health and healthcare—all with the mandate to reduce cost and shed inefficiencies.