Columbia DBMI Summer Research Program
The Columbia Department of Biomedical Informatics (DBMI) Summer Research Program provides rising juniors and seniors in high school from the New York City area and college or university undergraduate students from a wide range of backgrounds (biology, psychology, engineering, computer science, applied mathematics, statistics, etc.) with fundamental knowledge, hands-on skills, and research experience in biomedical informatics and health data science.
The goal of the program is to promote biomedical informatics and health data science as a career choice for young scientists in training. The program takes place in an inclusive research and learning environment. Students from traditionally underrepresented minority groups are encouraged to apply.
The Columbia DBMI Summer Research Program is part of the biomedical informatics training program which targets a broad spectrum of learners. We are excited to announce that the program will return to an in-person setting this summer for the first time since 2019!
Summer Program Testimonials
Overview
The Columbia DBMI Summer Research Program lasts six weeks and traditionally takes place in the Collaboration Space at DBMI. The program was held virtually in 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it returned to an in-person setting last summer.
At the end of the program, fellows will have gained computing and research skills, familiarity with the fields of informatics and health data science, experience with real-world, massive health datasets from electronic health records and the data acumen that comes with handling such datasets, along with understanding of the complex ethical and fairness questions inherent to biomedical informatics and health data science research.
• Research Project: Students will work on a project currently being led by DBMI faculty and graduate students;
• Mini-course: Students will watch and discuss prerecorded lectures with faculty on how biomedical informatics has the potential to improve healthcare outcomes and practice through new knowledge generation;
• Lab Meetings: Students will participate in weekly lab meetings to illuminate the intricacies of how research is conducted;
• Journal Clubs: Students will present recent publications that report on biomedical interventions in healthcare;
• Study Design: Students will study the Observational Health Data Sciences and Informatics (OHDSI) framework, a clinical data warehouse of more than 800 million patient records, to propose a study of their own choosing;
The Department of Biomedical Informatics (DBMI) is part of the Graduate School for Arts and Science at Columbia University and the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. Our faculty are affiliated with both the Columbia University Irving Medical Center and the Columbia Data Science Institute.
Our trainees and faculty come from a wide range of disciplines and are all committed to improving health and healthcare through the use and design of informatics methods and tools. Examples of DBMI research is available here, and include machine learning, causal inference, natural language processing, data assimilation, mobile health, disease phenotyping, technology for shared decision making, large-scale observational data science, and study of health and healthcare disparities.
Eligibility
Rising juniors and seniors in high school from the New York City area, as well as college or university undergraduates, are invited to apply for the Columbia DBMI Summer Research Program.
To promote diversity in higher education and biomedical informatics, students from traditionally underrepresented minority groups are encouraged to apply.
Apply
Applications have not yet opened for the 2024 cohort. For more information, please contact Herbert Chase (hc15@cumc.columbia.edu)
