Second-year University of Florida College of Pharmacy students Xueqing Dai and Nuona Li placed second in the 2026 Sparx Analytics Datathon Competition, a national event that invites pharmacy students to leverage data in order to solve real-world, health care challenges.
Li, who attends the Orlando campus alongside Dai, said their performance reflects the pair’s commitment to exploring all the diverse skill sets within the pharmacy profession.
“When we first learned about this opportunity, we had limited experience with data analytics and were unsure how to approach large datasets. However, stepping outside of our comfort zone challenged us to grow both personally and professionally, ultimately helping us become better pharmacy students,” Li said. “Placing at the national level this year is especially meaningful because it highlights our progress. After competing last year without placing, this achievement demonstrates how much we were able to learn, develop new skills and improve within just one year.”
The competition saw 60 students from 17 states and 26 pharmacy schools transform clinical data into dashboard presentations and apply a range of analytical skills in addressing potential drug therapy issues within a hospital system. Dai said the competition helped her build critical skills that will aid her as she pursues residency training after graduation.
“It equipped us to evaluate specific disease states, interpret hospital data and transform that information into clear, clinically meaningful summaries. In doing so, we were able to identify areas for improvement and support better patient care and health care outcomes overall,” Dai said. “As someone interested in pursuing a residency, I found this competition to be an especially valuable experience. It gave me the opportunity to strengthen my skills in data analysis, clinical interpretation and professional communication, all of which will be important in future interviews and my career development.”