For almost four decades, the Stanford Biomedical Informatics (BMI) Program has granted PhD and MS degrees to graduates who have made significant contributions to biomedicine and health through data-driven and computationally-derived scientific discoveries and advances. Today, our trainees have access to unprecedented amounts of biomedical data that span our entire biomedical enterprise, and they are empowered by their training in biomedical informatics and data science to advance the life sciences and improve clinical care. Our proposal for the future of BMI training at Stanford harnesses the opportunity to produce the next generation of researchers who will enable precision medicine through innovations in translational bioinformatics, health care informatics and clinical research informatics. We request annual support for training 11 pre-doctoral candidates (including two candidates in HIV informatics), 6 postdoctoral candidates, and 4 short-term diversity candidates, for a period of 5 years. Our trainees will benefit from a rich curriculum that consists of specially-designed core courses in biomedical informatics and data science, technical electives from companion fields of computer science, statistics, mathematics and engineering, domain electives in biological and clinical sciences, and instruction on the principles of responsible conduct of research and the methods of rigor and reproducible research. Our trainees will be provided with outstanding mentored research opportunities offered by 34 investigators who collectively represent 16 departments and divisions across 3 schools at Stanford University. Beginning in August 2021, our BMI program will benefit from the recent establishment of the Department of Biomedical Data Science (DBDS) at Stanford, for which it will be the primary graduate training program. DBDS will serve as a critical nexus to increase the education and research opportunities for our BMI trainees. Our environment is well-positioned for such expanded opportunities due to a recent explosion of highly successful initiatives including the Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI), the Center in Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Imaging (AIMI), and the Center in Digital Health (CDH). In addition, our training is deeply considerate of issues related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in all aspects. Our program has a long track record of diversity recruitment and retention, which we have expanded through a DEI focus in our curriculum, with new course content related to fairness and bias, and through the creation of new outreach opportunities for applicants. Through these efforts and others, Stanford University remains a fertile environment to advance human health through training in biomedical informatics and data science.

Our proposal for training in biomedical informatics and data science at Stanford harnesses the opportunity to produce the next generation of researchers who will enable precision medicine through innovations in translational bioinformatics, health care informatics and clinical research informatics. We have a 39-year track record of producing bioinformatics leaders who pursue research-driven careers in academia and industry. We remain well-positioned to advance human health through future training in biomedical informatics and data science.