Biomedical Informatics is the study of information and computation in biology and health. Its researchers study and manage information, study behavior related to decisions, and develop computational methods and use them to generate knowledge.

The Columbia University Department of Biomedical Informatics is among the oldest in the nation. Our goals are discovery and impact: to discover new information methods, to augment the biomedical knowledge base, and to improve the health of the population. Our 30 faculty members and 60 students work in a highly collaborative environment, applying informatics from the atomic level to global populations. Our areas of application include:

• CLINICAL CARE, such as designing clinical information systems and mining the electronic health record
• BIOLOGY, including systems biology, structural biology, and virology, in partnership with the Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
• PUBLIC HEALTH, such as designing systems to promote and protect the health of communities, improving public health systems, and deploying information technology internationally
• TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH, including integrating biological and clinical knowledge and facilitating multidisciplinary science