# Columbia University Department of Biomedical Informatics (DBMI) — Full Reference

> Expanded, LLM-friendly reference document for the Columbia DBMI website. This file provides complete descriptions of programs, research, faculty, and administrative information in a single document so that AI systems can answer questions about DBMI without needing to fetch multiple pages. Last updated: 2026-04-22.

## About the Department

The Department of Biomedical Informatics (DBMI) is located on the Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) campus at 622 West 168th Street, Presbyterian Building, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10032, in the Washington Heights neighborhood of northern Manhattan. DBMI is both an academic department within Columbia University and an information services partner to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, a major healthcare provider in the greater New York area. The department is affiliated with the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS), the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, and the Columbia Data Science Institute (DSI).

DBMI is one of the oldest biomedical informatics departments in the United States. It arose from the Center for Medical Informatics, formed by the College of Physicians and Surgeons and Presbyterian Hospital in 1987. The Center became a formal department and began training graduate students in 1994, making it the second-oldest such department in the country. Edward H. (Ted) Shortliffe, MD, PhD served as the founding chair from 2000 to 2007. George Hripcsak, MD, MS has served as chair since 2007 and holds the Vivian Beaumont Allen Professorship of Biomedical Informatics. Noémie Elhadad, PhD serves as Graduate Program Director and as the director of the health analytics center at the Columbia Data Science Institute.

Faculty and students at DBMI have set the path for design of clinical information systems, methodologies in clinical natural language processing, and machine learning over electronic health record data. Research includes the development and evaluation of innovative information technologies across scales ranging from the atomic level to global populations.

## Research Mission and Areas

The DBMI research mission is to produce theoretical and practical advances in AI, data science, and human-computer interaction that lead to better health and new biomedical knowledge. DBMI faculty and trainees design, implement, and evaluate informatics-driven solutions for clinicians, patients, communities, and researchers, and develop, validate, and deploy novel computational methodologies to advance research in AI and in health.

Research areas include:

- Artificial intelligence and large language models in medicine
- Machine learning, deep learning, causal inference, and off-policy reinforcement learning
- Natural language processing for clinical text
- Electronic health record (EHR) phenotyping and observational research
- Clinical decision support and SmartApps
- Data assimilation and clinical databases
- Mobile health (mHealth), personal informatics, and wearables
- Human-computer interaction and intelligent interactive systems
- Patient safety and learning health systems
- Clinical research informatics and translational informatics
- Public health and consumer health informatics
- Computational genomics, statistical genetics, and immunogenomics
- Genome privacy and biomedical data privacy
- Cancer informatics and tumor evolution
- Disease phenotyping, pharmacovigilance, and drug safety
- Health equity, health disparities, and justice informatics
- Patient-generated data and shared decision making
- Critical care informatics and early warning scores
- Biomedical imaging and signal processing

DBMI researchers have access to the NewYork-Presbyterian Clinical Data Warehouse and CROWN outpatient system, containing over 20 years of clinical data on more than 5.1 million ambulatory and inpatient patients. Through OHDSI (Observational Health Data Sciences and Informatics), faculty work with data on 800+ million patient records globally.

## Research Centers and Initiatives

**OPTACIMM Center** (Optimizing with Applied Clinical Informatics Models and Methods): Uses informatics to advance healthcare delivery and outcomes for individuals and communities. Goals include advancing the Quintuple Aim, conducting informatics evaluation, designing infrastructure for clinical intelligence and population health informatics, enhancing analytics, patient empowerment, promoting interoperability, promoting human-centered artificial intelligence, providing clinical informatics training, and supporting health equity research.

**OHDSI (Observational Health Data Sciences and Informatics)**: A multi-stakeholder, interdisciplinary collaborative led in part by DBMI faculty. OHDSI uses the OMOP Common Data Model for large-scale observational research across a federated network of health data. DBMI hosts the annual OHDSI Summer School.

**FHIR Lab**: A practical laboratory environment for researchers to develop applications using the HL7 FHIR standard.

## Academic Programs — Full Details

### PhD in Biomedical Informatics

The PhD program is a research doctoral program requiring a minimum of 60 points of Columbia University graduate (4000 level or above) coursework, 6 residence units, and the completion of DBMI degree requirements. The curriculum includes core courses providing a foundation in general biomedical informatics methods, techniques, and theories, together with electives in one or more specialization areas: bioinformatics, translational informatics, clinical informatics, clinical research informatics, or public health informatics. In years three and above, research is the primary focus of the student's program.

**Milestones**: There are four milestones for PhD students, culminating in an Oral II (Depth) Exam, after which students enroll in BINF G9001 (Doctoral Research in Biomedical Informatics) and eventually in BINF G9999 (Doctoral Dissertation) in their final term.

**Teaching Assistantship**: PhD students are required to serve as teaching assistants for two courses. MD-PhD students TA one course. Two-year postdoctoral research fellows TA one course; three-year postdoctoral fellows TA two courses. Students register for two points of BINF G8010 (MPhil Teaching Experience) each semester they serve as a TA.

**Seminar**: PhD students enroll in the weekly DBMI seminar. Bio-track PhD students enroll in the DBMI seminar in their first year and may substitute the Systems Biology seminar in year 2 and beyond.

**Ethics**: PhD students must enroll in CMBS G4010 (Responsible Conduct of Research and Related Policy Issues) in their second term — this satisfies an NIH requirement.

**Publications**: PhD students and postdoctoral fellows are expected to submit work to publications and conferences each year, with all submissions reviewed and approved by the research advisor.

**Application deadline**: December 1 each year (deadline for the 2027-28 cohort is scheduled for December 1, 2027). Application is through the GSAS Coordinated PhD program in biomedical sciences. Requirements: official transcripts, TOEFL/IELTS scores (as applicable), three letters of recommendation, and a personal statement. Finalists are notified through the admissions portal by late December.

### MA in Biomedical Informatics

The Master of Arts requires 30 points of Columbia University graduate (4000-level and above) coursework and includes:

- 5 core courses (BINF G4000, BINF G4001, BINF G4002 Machine Learning in Health Care, BINF G4003, BINF G6002 Methods III: Research Methods)
- 1 research course (BINF G6001 Projects in Biomedical Informatics) leading to a Master's Essay or Master's Capstone Project
- BINF G4099 Research Seminar, fall and spring terms (not required for part-time students)

All courses are taken for a letter grade except BINF G4099 (P/F based on attendance). Students must earn a B or above for courses to count toward DBMI degree requirements.

**Master's Essay**: Every master's student completes a research project under a DBMI faculty research advisor, with a second faculty reader appointed from DBMI. The MA essay form must be submitted at least one month prior to the GSAS degree conferral dates (February, May, October).

**Master's Capstone Project**: An alternative to the Master's Essay. The MA capstone presentation must happen at least one month prior to the GSAS degree conferral dates.

**Prerequisites**: BINF G4002 (Machine Learning in Health Care) and BINF G6002 (Methods III: Research Methods) require substantial competence in statistics and programming in Python. An exam is administered in June and August; students showing insufficient competence are required to take an Intro to Statistics course (e.g., STATS GU4001, BIST P6014, BMEN E4110, STAT 4204) or online programming courses.

**Funding**: With the exception of NLM-funded postdoctoral research fellows, DBMI does not provide financial support for those in the Master's Program. Eligible students may apply for educational loans. There are no teaching or research assistantships for MA students.

**Part-time option**: The MA program can be pursued part-time (up to 4 years for 30 points of coursework, approximately 10 courses plus Master's Essay).

**Application deadline**: Typically December for the following academic year (e.g., December 2025 for 2026-2027 cohort).

### MD-PhD in Biomedical Informatics

A combined medical and doctoral degree for students pursuing physician-scientist careers. MD-PhD applicants should not use the standard PhD online application form — separate application information is available for the MD-PhD program.

### MD-MA in Biomedical Informatics

A 5-year joint degree between the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (P&S) and the Department of Biomedical Informatics in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. The program integrates graduate-level training in Biomedical Informatics with medical school for students who want to enhance their medical training with research and computational skills.

**Structure**: The fourth year of medical school (fall and spring terms) is spent as an MA student, enrolling in a minimum of 24 points (12 per term). Six points of medical school coursework count toward the 30-point GSAS MA degree requirement. Students complete the master's essay as part of their scholarly project once they return to medical school in year 5.

**Requirements**: 30 points of 4000-level+ coursework, 2 residence units, 5 core courses (BINF G4000, G4001, G4002, G4003, G6002), and 1 research course (BINF G6001) in spring term leading to a master's essay under a DBMI Faculty Member.

**Contact**: Dr. Herbert Chase, Professor of Medicine.

### Health Information Technology (HIT) Certification of Professional Achievement

A certificate program designed for working professionals blending healthcare knowledge with applied health informatics. Graduates have become Clinical Analysts, Analytics Project Managers, CMIOs (Chief Medical Information Officers), CNOs (Chief Nursing Officers), Chief Data Scientists, Interface Analysts, EHR Managers, Health IT entrepreneurs, and Informatics Education Program leads.

**Format**: Once-a-month full-day virtual classes combined with online learning modules, assessments, and team assignments. Teams are selected to maximize professional diversity. All work centers on real-world HIT problems.

**Eligibility**: At least a bachelor's degree and training or experience in a related field (healthcare, public health, healthcare policy, health IT, IT, computer science). Application requires a personal statement, resume/CV, contact information for two recommenders, and transcripts from all postsecondary institutions.

**Open houses**: Virtual information sessions are held during the spring term.

**Funding**: The certification program is not approved for Federal Direct Loans. ONC funding, school, and departmental aid are not available. Private alternative loans may be available.

**Contact**: hit@columbia.edu

### Clinical Informatics Fellowship (ACGME-Accredited)

A 2-year ACGME-accredited subspecialty fellowship sponsored by NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and DBMI. Housed within the Internal Medicine program but open to all specialties. One slot opens each year.

**Eligibility**: Fellows must be board-eligible in another clinical specialty at the time of appointment. Time is allotted for clinical practice in their specialty to maintain clinical expertise.

**Program content**: Didactic sessions are drawn from DBMI's HIT curricular materials and other selected courses. Fellows attend and present in the weekly DBMI seminar. Clinical resources are provided through project-oriented experiences at NYP.

**Application**: Through ERAS (Electronic Residency Application Service) under "Clinical Informatics (Internal Medicine)". Program Director: Sivan Kinberg, MD, MS, MA (sk1312@cumc.columbia.edu). Program Coordinator: Angely Arriaza (aa5691@cumc.columbia.edu).

### NLM Postdoctoral Research Fellowship

DBMI has a 27+ year history of National Library of Medicine (NLM) funding supporting pre- and postdoctoral fellows. Specializations include health care informatics, clinical research informatics, translational bioinformatics, and public health informatics, with biomedical data science concepts and methods as core curriculum.

**Eligibility**: US citizens and permanent residents with an MD or PhD degree (per NIH rules).

**Two tracks**:
- **Degree-seeking**: For fellows without formal informatics coursework — requires enrollment in MA or PhD program. Appointments are for up to 2 years per NIH agency guidelines. Includes stipend, tuition, fees, and health insurance. Fellows must pass a written Breadth examination and are normally assigned to TA one DBMI course.
- **Non-degree**: For fellows with prior informatics training. Send a research statement, CV, up to 5 relevant publications, and names of at least three references.

Applications are made through GSAS using the same application as the PhD and MA programs; applicants must select MA or PhD (no separate postdoctoral category).

### Postdoctoral Research Scientist Positions

For PhD graduates interested in research positions in specific DBMI faculty labs. See the DBMI Careers page for current openings.

### DBMI Summer Research Program

A 7-week in-person program running June 29 through August 14, 2026, for rising high school seniors, recent high school graduates, and undergraduate students from diverse academic backgrounds (biology, engineering, computer science, statistics, etc.). Held at DBMI offices on the 20th floor of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

**Eligibility**: At least 17 years old by June 29, 2026; available in the New York City area for the full duration of the program.

**Activities**: Research project with DBMI faculty and graduate students; mini-course with prerecorded lectures; weekly lab meetings; journal clubs presenting recent publications; study design work using the OHDSI framework (800+ million patient records); hands-on observational health data science research. Participants gain familiarity with informatics, AI, real-world health datasets, and the ethical/fairness questions inherent to the field.

**Application deadline**: February 20, 2026. Contact: Herbert Chase (hc15@cumc.columbia.edu), Angely Arriaza (aa5691@cumc.columbia.edu).

**Funding**: Stipend available for US citizens and permanent residents through NLM funding.

### OHDSI Summer School

A 5-day intensive training in OMOP, OHDSI, and observational research methods using real-world evidence. Held at DBMI, 622 West 168th Street, Presbyterian Hospital 20th Floor, Room 200.

**Cost**: $5,900 early-bird rate (through May 15, 2026); includes instruction, hands-on exercises, computing infrastructure and datasets, and daily lunch. Participants cover their own travel and lodging. Payment by invoice, check, or wire transfer is available.

**Contact**: DBMItrainings@cumc.columbia.edu

## BINF Course Catalog

The curriculum is designed to provide a uniform foundation in the essentials of biomedical informatics while meeting the needs of students with different backgrounds and career goals. The educational objectives consist of core courses, plus qualitative, quantitative, and information technology objectives that enable students to apply methods to one or more domain/training areas: clinical informatics, clinical research informatics, translational informatics, and consumer health / public health informatics. The department also offers a specialization in data science.

**Core courses (examples)**:
- BINF G4000 — Core foundation course
- BINF G4001 — Core foundation course
- BINF G4002 — Machine Learning in Health Care
- BINF G4003 — Core foundation course
- BINF G6002 — Methods III: Research Methods
- BINF G4099 — Research Seminar (P/F based on attendance)

**Research and teaching courses**:
- BINF G6001 — Projects in Biomedical Informatics (for MA essay/capstone and research credit)
- BINF G8001 — Independent Readings
- BINF G8010 — MPhil Teaching Experience (2 points per semester as TA)
- BINF G9001 — Doctoral Research in Biomedical Informatics (taken after passing the Oral II/Depth Exam)
- BINF G9999 — Doctoral Dissertation (taken in the final term)

**Required ethics course**:
- CMBS G4010 — Responsible Conduct of Research and Related Policy Issues (1 point, spring term of first year)

**Example domain courses**:
- BINF G4008 — Special Topics: Ethics and Fairness in Digital Health

**PhD and MA Domain/Training Area Trajectories**:
- Clinical Informatics / Clinical Research Informatics: 3 educational objectives (1 qual, 1 quant, 1 IT) + 2 Domain Courses
- Consumer Health Informatics / Public Health Informatics: 2 Quant Objectives + 1 IT Objective + 2 Domain Courses

The official and most up-to-date course information is available through the Columbia University Directory of Classes.

## Leadership and Faculty

**Chair**: George Hripcsak, MD, MS — Vivian Beaumont Allen Professor of Biomedical Informatics. Research interests: electronic health records, causal inference, data assimilation, phenotyping, machine learning, decision support, observational research, natural language processing.

**Chair Emeritus**: Edward H. (Ted) Shortliffe, MD, PhD — Adjunct Professor of Biomedical Informatics; Chair of Biomedical Informatics 2000–2007.

**Graduate Program Director**: Noémie Elhadad, PhD — Associate Professor of Biomedical Informatics. Director, Health Analytics Center at Columbia Data Science Institute. Research interests: machine learning, natural language processing, decision support, electronic health records, patient-generated data.

**Other faculty research areas represented in DBMI** (partial list):
- Human-computer interaction, mHealth, personal informatics, intelligent interactive systems, clinical decision support
- Patient safety, applied clinical informatics, predictive modeling, early warning scores, SmartApps
- Genome privacy, biomedical data privacy, computational biology, 3D genome
- Cognitive informatics, clinical decision-making, medical errors, human-computer interaction
- Genomics, mathematical approaches, machine learning, cancer, infectious diseases, tumor evolution
- Computational genomics, human genetics, statistical genetics, immunogenomics
- Health IT safety research, computerized physician order entry, audit log data, learning health systems
- Precision health, symptom science, information visualization, participatory design
- Clinical research informatics, knowledge representation, clinical phenotyping, evidence-based medicine
- Machine learning, prediction, signal processing, device data, critical care

**Associated with NewYork-Presbyterian and CUIMC**: Faculty include the Chief Patient Safety Officer of CUIMC/NYP, Associate Dean for Quality and Safety at VP&S, and others who hold clinical leadership roles at NYP.

## Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

DBMI supports the Columbia University mission to foster an environment of diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism for students, faculty, and staff. Initiatives include:

- DEI concepts integrated into core courses (Research Methods, Symbolic Methods, Machine Learning for Healthcare) and domain courses (BINF G4008 Ethics and Fairness in Digital Health)
- DBMI Special Seminar Series: Toward Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Informatics, Health Care, and Society (began 2020–21)
- Justice Informatics Group: student-led exploration of systemic racism in research and academia
- Research projects connecting to local community: GetHealthyHeights (online platform for northern Manhattan residents), COVIDWatcher (research, advocacy, and policy platform)
- Community partnerships: Lang Youth Medical Program, Teak Fellowship, Inwood Early College High School Career Fair, Science Matters Research Internship, AMIA High School Scholars Program, New York Academy of Sciences Mentorship, IndigiData (Indigenous Data Science Education workshop)

## Location and Contact

**Address**: Department of Biomedical Informatics, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, 622 West 168th Street, Presbyterian Building, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10032

**Transportation**:
- Subway: A or C train to 168th Street station; 1 train also serves 168th Street
- Bus: M-2, M-3, M-4, M-5, M-100 serve the medical center
- Car: Follow directions to the George Washington Bridge; CUIMC is located at West 168th Street and Broadway, southeast of the bridge

**Key contacts**:
- HIT Program: hit@columbia.edu
- DBMI Trainings / Summer School: DBMItrainings@cumc.columbia.edu
- Summer Research Program: Herbert Chase (hc15@cumc.columbia.edu), Angely Arriaza (aa5691@cumc.columbia.edu)
- Clinical Informatics Fellowship: Sivan Kinberg, MD (sk1312@cumc.columbia.edu); Angely Arriaza (aa5691@cumc.columbia.edu)
- GSAS Office of Graduate Affairs (general admissions questions): biomedicalsciences@columbia.edu, 212.305.8058

## Social Media and Video

- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5HPf8c48EBVcbSWc_xCCbQ (Dept. Biomedical Informatics Columbia University)
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/school/columbia-dbmi/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ColumbiaDBMI/

## Seminar Information

The DBMI Seminar is held Mondays at 1 pm ET, hybrid format with in-person attendance in PH20-200 and virtual attendance via Zoom. Enrollment for credit is restricted to DBMI students, but anyone may attend. The seminar is a 1-credit course (BINF G4099 Research Seminar) and features research talks from both academia and industry, including student presentations.

Past seminar recordings and schedules are available on the DBMI website and on the DBMI Seminar YouTube playlist.