The University of Pittsburgh proposes a five-year renewal of its Biomedical Informatics (BMI) Training Program. The T15 grant is currently entering its 30th consecutive year. Our program is notable for the long and distinguished history of biomedical informatics research in Pittsburgh, the continuous evolution and refinement of our educational programs, the strong institutional commitment to biomedical informatics and our training program, and the rich biomedical and computational research environment in which our training program is set. The program has an administrative home in the Department of Biomedical Informatics (DBMI) within the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. DBMI provides space, equipment, and financial support for training program administration, faculty, graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. The program is supported by an interdepartmental core faculty of 36 faculty members, including all 17 faculty members with primary appointments in DBMI. The Training Program Director, a tightly knit leadership group of faculty co-directors, and two experienced staff members support the overall operation of the program. The Pittsburgh BMI Training Program offers research training in all four sub-disciplines of Biomedical Informatics: healthcare/clinical informatics, translational bioinformatics, clinical research informatics, and public health informatics. Additionally, with this competitive renewal, we are proposing a new program in environmental exposures informatics. Trainees in our T15-funded training programs may pursue an MS or PhD in Biomedical Informatics, an MS or PhD in Intelligent Systems – Biomedical Informatics Track, an MD/PhD through the Medical Scientist Training Program, or advanced postdoctoral research. The training program has undergone significant enhancements during the past funding period including a move to new contiguous space, a new admissions and recruitment process, new courses, and additional new efforts to recruit trainee candidates, including candidates from under-represented minorities and disadvantaged backgrounds. Enhancements for the proposed funding period include new courses, new professional development opportunities, and enhanced training in research reproducibility. A major focus will be to expand on our already well developed research programs in data science to enhance the training of T15 funded trainees. We have a strong track record of success in training biomedical informatics researchers in all sub- disciplines. Trainees from our program are publishing research articles in high impact journals in the field, winning national awards for their research, writing successful K grants and individual fellowship awards, and securing research positions in academics, industry and government upon graduation.

This grant proposes the continuation of the University of Pittsburgh training program in Biomedical Informatics. The grant would support predoctoral and postdoctoral studies for eligible candidates interested in pursuing research careers in biomedical informatics. The program offers research training in the application of informatics to problems in translational sciences, clinical sciences, clinical research and public health.