SPARK Institute...

Research at SPARK Institute

At SPARK Institute of Data Science and Applied Statistics, we are committed to advancing knowledge through innovative research in statistics and data science. Our faculty and students engage in cutting-edge projects that address real-world challenges and push the boundaries of what's possible with data.

Ongoing Research Projects

Climate Change Impact Modeling

Active

Developing advanced statistical models to predict and analyze the impacts of climate change on public health, agriculture, and economic systems in East Africa.

Lead: Dr. Turyamuhaki Noel
2024-2026

Infectious Disease Forecasting

Active

Creating machine learning models for early detection and prediction of infectious disease outbreaks using real-time data from multiple sources including social media and health records.

Lead: Dr. Kirwa Timothy
2023-2025

Big Data Analytics for Healthcare

Planning

Leveraging big data technologies to analyze healthcare datasets for improving patient outcomes, optimizing resource allocation, and enhancing decision-making in clinical settings.

Lead: Dr. Jumba Fahad
2024-2027

Agricultural Data Science

Active

Applying data science techniques to improve agricultural productivity through crop yield prediction, pest detection, and optimal resource allocation for smallholder farmers.

Lead: Kepha Cherop
2023-2025

Quantifying Uncertainty in Dense Neural Networks Using Monte Carlo Dropout

Active

Developing novel techniques to quantify uncertainty in deep neural network predictions using Monte Carlo dropout methods. This research aims to improve the reliability and interpretability of neural network models in critical applications.

Lead: Dr. Turyamuhaki Noel
2024-2026

A Survey on Machine Learning in Early Stroke Prediction

Review

Comprehensive survey and analysis of current machine learning approaches for early stroke prediction. This project evaluates various algorithms, datasets, and performance metrics to identify best practices and future research directions.

Lead: Dr. Kirwa Timothy
2024-2025

A Deep CNN-ViT Ensemble for Stroke Prediction

Active

Developing an innovative ensemble model combining Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) and Vision Transformers (ViT) for improved stroke prediction from medical imaging data. This hybrid approach aims to leverage the strengths of both architectures.

Lead: Dr. Jumba Fahad
2024-2026

Faculty Publications

Machine Learning Approaches for COVID-19 Prediction in Uganda

Turyamuhaki Noel, Jumba Fahad, Kirwa Timothy
Journal of Data Science in Health, 2024
Published: March 2024

Statistical Methods for Climate Change Impact Assessment in East Africa

Turyamuhaki Noel, Kepha Cherop
International Journal of Climatology, 2023
Published: November 2023

Public Health Data Analytics: A Comprehensive Review

Kirwa Timothy, Jumba Fahad
BMC Public Health, 2023
Published: September 2023

Big Data Applications in Healthcare: Challenges and Opportunities

Jumba Fahad, Turyamuhaki Noel
Health Informatics Journal, 2023
Published: July 2023

Data-Driven Agriculture: Transforming Farming in Uganda

Kepha Cherop, Kirwa Timothy
Agricultural Systems Journal, 2022
Published: December 2022

Quantifying Uncertainty in Dense Neural Networks Using Monte Carlo Dropout: Methods and Applications

Turyamuhaki Noel, Jumba Fahad
International Journal of Uncertainty Quantification, 2024
Published: June 2024

A Survey on Machine Learning in Early Stroke Prediction: Current Trends and Future Directions

Kirwa Timothy, Sarah Kimani
Journal of Medical Artificial Intelligence, 2024
Published: April 2024

A Deep CNN-ViT Ensemble for Stroke Prediction: Improving Accuracy and Interpretability

Jumba Fahad, Turyamuhaki Noel
Neurocomputing, 2024
Published: May 2024

Research Labs

Epidemiology & Public Health Lab

Focused on statistical modeling of infectious diseases and public health data analysis to improve healthcare outcomes.

  • Disease surveillance systems
  • Epidemic forecasting models
  • Public health informatics
Director: Dr. Kirwa Timothy

Climate & Environmental Data Lab

Dedicated to analyzing climate data and developing models for environmental impact assessment and prediction.

  • Climate modeling systems
  • Environmental data analysis
  • Impact assessment tools
Director: Dr. Turyamuhaki Noel

Big Data & Machine Learning Lab

Exploring large-scale data processing and developing cutting-edge machine learning algorithms for various applications.

  • Distributed computing systems
  • Deep learning frameworks
  • Data visualization tools
Director: Dr. Jumba Fahad

Agricultural Data Science Lab

Applying data science techniques to solve agricultural challenges and improve farming practices through data-driven insights.

  • Crop yield prediction
  • Pest and disease detection
  • Resource optimization models
Director: Kepha Cherop

Neural Networks & Uncertainty Lab

Specializing in advanced neural network architectures and uncertainty quantification methods for improved model reliability.

  • Monte Carlo dropout methods
  • Bayesian neural networks
  • Uncertainty visualization tools
Director: Dr. Turyamuhaki Noel

Technologies You'll Master

Our curriculum integrates industry-leading tools and platforms used by data scientists worldwide.

Python

Whether you're new to programming or an experienced developer, it's easy to learn and use Python. It compiles and runs on a wide variety of platforms and is the most popular language in data science and machine learning.

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R

R is a free software environment for statistical computing and graphics. It compiles and runs on a wide variety of UNIX platforms, Windows and MacOS, making it ideal for academic and industry research.

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MySQL

Use automated and integrated generative AI and machine learning (ML) in one cloud service for transactions and lakehouse scale analytics. Get faster insights from all your data with unmatched performance.

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TensorFlow

Whether you're new to programming or an experienced developer, it's easy to learn and use TensorFlow for building and deploying ML models at scale.

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Tableau

Fuel faster data, insights, and action with Tableau Next. Turn trusted insights into autonomous action anytime, anywhere, with the world's first agentic analytics platform.

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