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 the biomedical researchers but also serve as opportunities for institute faculty to advance their own scholarship and discover solutions to a wide variety of 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 needed 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.

Unlocking the potential in the human genome is part of the future of health care, and 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, as well as data 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 a form that is most useful to them.

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. By taking into account individual differences in lifestyle, environment, and biology, researchers will uncover paths toward delivering precision medicine. 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. The Department of Biomedical Informatics and Data Science (DBIDS) is providing support to the program by transferring to the project Data Resource Center all the clinical data collected in the routine care of the participants at UAB.