Funded by the National Center for the Advancement of Translational Science, the Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences (CCTS) facilitates clinical and translational research while translating its discoveries to human health at UAB and partner institutions across the Southeast. The Department of Biomedical Informatics and Data Science (DBIDS) collaborates with the CCTS to improve the research application of bioinformatics and clinical research informatics. These collaborations not only facilitate the scholarship of biomedical researchers but also serve as opportunities for institute faculty to advance their scholarship and discover solutions to various problem domains.

The Precision Medicine Institute (PMI) integrates discovery efforts (basic, clinical, and translational research), implementation studies (pilot trials), and the final integration of information into the clinical care setting to improve patient care. The Department of Biomedical Informatics and Data Science provides important interfaces between the PMI and the UAB health system to provide the patient data required for research, and the clinical informatics needed to effectively integrate PMI’s findings into patient care workflows.

The Center for Genomic Medicine (CGM) is a collaborative partnership between UAB and the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology with the primary mission of conducting research in genomic medicine and facilitating the translation of findings into clinical practice. The Department of Biomedical Informatics and Data Science collaborates with the CGM to provide bioinformatics expertise, as well as clinical (phenomic) data needed for the CGM’s mission.

Together with UAB’s Department of Computer Science and Department of Biology in the College of Arts and Sciences, the Department of Biomedical Informatics and Data Science has developed an undergraduate bioinformatics curriculum to prepare bright students from across the world for the accelerating needs for bioinformatics technicians in the workforce and trainees for advanced degree programs. This program is now enrolling students.

As the state’s leader in genomic medicine, UAB Medicine is taking a major step forward with the Alabama Genomic Health Initiative (AGHI). Charged with enrolling 10,000 participants in the initial five years of the project, AGHI is making data collected during the study and from the participants’ electronic health records at UAB available to biomedical researchers. The Department of Biomedical Informatics and Data Science (DBIDS) is working with AGHI to define the best methods for helping researchers get the data they need in its most useful form.

The All of Us Research Program is a historic effort to gather data from one million or more people living in the United States to accelerate research and improve health. Researchers will uncover paths toward delivering precision medicine by factoring individual differences in lifestyle, environment, and biology. UAB is the lead institution for the Southern All of Us Network, which is charged with enrolling research subjects across the Deep South towards the overall goal of one million participants. Our department provides support to the program through the transfer of all clinical data collected in the routine care of the participants at UAB to the project Data Resource Center.