With the influx of big-data techniques in biomedical research, the utility and value of data scientists is well recognized. However, few academic programs have been successful at integrating and retaining these scientists, for reasons including communication challenges and a lack of long-term career paths. This private session will bring together a diverse panel of stakeholders from a range of fields--including biomedical, data, and finance--to uncover the barriers driving the lack of integration and to identify pathways for moving forward. We will examine the needs of both individuals and institutions to better incentivize, integrate, and retain data scientists in biomedical research, looking at models of success in order to understand their pathway and experiences. Participants should expect to leave knowing the next steps to form such collaborations and be able to define their metrics of success.