DHIS2 Implementation Adviser & Data Scientist

Brian
O'Donnell

Hi! I'm a public health data specialist with 10+ years of experience building durable national health information systems. I also write code to help unlock these data for deeper exploration. This is a portfolio of all my projects in health data analysis and software development.

Brian O'Donnell

00 — Portfolio Timeline

Eras of Work

01 — DHIS2 Apps

Custom Applications

React applications built on the DHIS2 App Platform for visualizing health data, exploring tracker events, and surfacing program insights.

DHIS2 App

Trend Sketch

Interactive trend visualizations for DHIS2 aggregate data with comparative overlays.

DHIS2 App

Event Relationships

Network visualization of tracked entity relationships across DHIS2 programs.

02 — R with the DHIS2 API

Analysis & Visualization in R

Using R to connect, extract, and analyse data from DHIS2 — from network graphs of COVID surveillance to tracker data workflows.

R · igraph

Covid Networks

Mapping COVID-19 transmission networks via DHIS2 case surveillance data.

R · DHIS2 API

Program Indicator Generator

Automate DHIS2 program indicator creation at scale using the metadata API.

R · RMarkdown

User Activity in Tracker

Analysing DHIS2 user login patterns and dashboard engagement via the API.

R · ggplot2

Visualizing Patient Movement

Sankey and flow diagrams for patient pathways through DHIS2 Tracker programs.

03 — Epidemiology

Research & Analysis

Academic and applied epidemiology: from my MSc thesis to survival analysis and reproductive health surveillance in Palestine.

MSc Thesis

Masters Thesis

Predicting dropout from care among 40,000 hypertension patients in Nigeria.

Epidemiology · eRegistry

Palestine Chart

Reproductive health indicators from Palestinian eRegistry. Linked to published papers.

R · Survival Analysis

Survival Curves

Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression models for time-to-event outcomes in health data.

04 — TidyTuesday

Data Visualization Portfolio

Weekly data visualization challenges in R. A growing collection of #TidyTuesday submissions exploring ggplot2, data storytelling, and visual design.

2020-06

Avengers and the Bechdel Test

2020-05

Cocktails Prices in Norway

05 — Blog

Writing & Research

Long-form pieces on public health data, heat-health early warning systems, and cancer registry infrastructure.

Mar 2026 Heat Health Early Warning Systems — country web search Feb 2026 DHIS2 use in cancer surveillance — a global landscape