Letter from the Chair

Dear Colleagues, Prospective Students and Friends:

As we begin the third year of existence of our Department of Biomedical Informatics, I am writing to reflect on what we have accomplished and our plans for the future. The Department of Biomedical Informatics at Arizona State University was formed in March 2007, with a strong research mandate, but with a twist that takes advantage of its unique situation and setting. The department is located on the downtown Phoenix campus of the University of Arizona College of Medicine in partnership with ASU. It is also next door to Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), in a rapidly developing biomedical enterprise zone in downtown Phoenix.

Our beautiful building, which had its grand opening on Oct. 15, 2007, has over 44,000 sq. ft. devoted to biomedical informatics (BMI), and is equipped with high speed networking, videoconferencing, including a state-of-the-art “medpresence” telesuite, and many flexible spaces. Most important is the spirit of innovation and adventure. A unique curriculum for the medical students integrates informatics concepts, methods, and applications from the outset. The M.S. program in biomedical informatics began in fall 2007, and a Ph.D. program began in fall 2008. Next year, we expect to offer one of the nation’s first undergraduate degree programs in BMI, leading to the B.S. degree.

As of the current 2010 academic year, we are part of a new ASU initiative known as Biomedicine@ASU, reporting directly to the provost of the university. This initiative seeks to coordinate and provide a framework for many new and ongoing activities addressing the multiple problems of our health care system—aimed at the discovery, translation, and application of new approaches to improving human health. This new organizational structure indicates the importance of biomedical research and advances in health care delivery and public health, and the commitment to these areas by ASU at all levels. Thanks to a generous startup budget, we are gearing up rapidly in all the major areas of BMI, and we are seeking several additions to our faculty. Research programs are already underway in bioinformatics, imaging informatics, clinical informatics, public health informatics and cross-cutting areas such as data mining/predictive modeling, knowledge representation, cognitive science, and medical simulation.

Despite the difficult economic times, the growth that has continued to occur all around us can only be considered extraordinary. The enthusiasm, shared vision and eagerness to collaborate by clinical partners both nearby and across Phoenix and Arizona, including Banner Health, Barrow Neurological Institute, TGen, Maricopa Integrated Health System, the Veterans Administration and Mayo Clinic, as well as several state agencies and other entities, have resulted in the initiation of a number of research partnerships and joint educational ventures. We are pleased to report that in our first two years, the BMI faculty have received more than $14 million in research funding commitments.

We look forward to this third year, and to continued development and expansion of our programs. Watch this space!

Sincerely,

Robert A. Greenes, M.D., Ph.D.
Chair and Professor
Department of Biomedical Informatics