What if you could take years of data mining expertise in the financial services and retail industry and apply it to saving babies? That’s exactly what Carolyn McGregor, Ph.D., did when she left a career at one of Australia’s top banks to lead the research and development of a new data analytics platform in the neonatal care department at the University of Western Sydney. Today, as Canada Research Chair in Health Informatics, Dr. McGregor’s research is pioneering new ways for neonatal health experts to monitor and care for their patients. Collecting vast amounts of patient data including heart and respiratory rates, Dr. McGregor’s approach to data management means 24-hour monitoring capabilities that can capture even the slightest abnormalities. From a young age, Dr. McGregor’s fascination with numbers and eventual pursuit of a computer science degree, led her to recognize the secret to managing ‘Big Data’ was building the right infrastructure. The system Dr. McGregor and her research team developed to produce over 1,200 points of data per second. Multiply that with a growing database of patients, and it’s easy to see the incredible volume and wealth of insight now readily available. In addition to providing real-time monitoring tools, Dr. McGregor’s research is also changing the way doctors are educated. With an expanding database of patients with varying conditions, Dr. McGregor’s research makes it possible for doctors to dive deeply into specific aliments and make a connection to insights that were previously unavailable. In addition to the impact Dr. McGregor’s research is having on the health care of premature babies, other intensive care departments are recognizing the profound impact data management can have, particularly where real-time, continuous monitoring is critical to patient care. Internationally recognized as a thought leader in data management, Dr. McGregor’s expertise is being sought beyond the medical community. She was approached by the Canadian Space Agency to apply her learning to monitoring the heart rates of astronauts participating in the planned mission to Mars.