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The Department of Biomedical Informatics was established in 1964 at the University of Utah. Located in Salt Lake City, the department is internationally recognized as a leader in biomedical informatics research and education.

The department has a National Library of Medicine (NLM) training grant to support its educational programs. Master of Science (MS), Non-Thesis Master of Science, Certificate and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree programs are offered along with short-term traineeships for students and visiting fellows. Research affiliations include University of Utah Health, Intermountain Health Care facilities, the Veterans Administration Medical Center, HealthInsight (the Peer Review Organization for Utah and Nevada), and the Utah Department of Health. As one of the largest biomedical informatics training programs in the world, the department's faculty and students are a diverse group with a wide range of experience and interests.

An International Reputation

The Department is recognized as one of the most prestigious training programs for informatics in the world. The Department has granted hundreds of PhD degrees and MS degrees. These alumni have gone on to key positions in academia, clinical medicine, government, and private industry. The Department routinely draws international scholars (both faculty and students) from across North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, including Fulbright scholars.

Unmatched Opportunities for Research

The breadth and depth of research opportunities at The University of Utah is unmatched because of close relationships with collaborating institutions, state and local public health agencies and access to the world’s finest genealogy database, the Utah Population Database. New cutting edge projects are developing the next generation research infrastructure. The program is unique for its strength in each of the primary teaching and research areas: clinical informatics, informatics for translational and clinical research and public health informatics.

Abundant research opportunities focusing on federated search, medical decision support, public health surveillance, and grid computing, to name a few, are supported in conjunction with The University of Utah Center for Translational and Clinical Science, renewed funding for a Center of Excellence in Public Health Informatics and a highly competitive National Library of Medicine Training Grant. Real-world clinical informatics research is ongoing at several of our collaborating institutions: Intermountain Healthcare, home of the renown HELP electronic medical record, University of Utah Health, Huntsman Cancer Institute, Salt Lake City VA Medical Center, and the Utah Department of Health.

Overview of Biomedical Informatics

Biomedical Informatics at the University of Utah