Biomedical Data Science Initiative

As the field of health care continues its march toward precision medicine, new infrastructure and resources are needed to advance the effective use of biomedical data and information to improve human health. The Biomedical Data Science Initiative (BDSI) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS) seeks to bridge research and educational endeavors in computing and big data analytics across various departments and institutes in order to pursue insights that will better the lives of patients and their families. In addition to providing an intellectual home for collaborative data-driven research, it offers outstanding computational training to postdocs and graduate students through a variety of Master’s, PhD, and post-graduate programs.

The BDSI at ISMMS comprises a network of specialized areas, including:

  • Computational Genomics
    Analysis to decipher how the information encoded within DNA and RNA is manifested in biological function

  • Computational Biophysics and Systems Pharmacology
    Using computational approaches for designing new therapeutics and predicting functional effects of drugs

  • Biomedical Engineering
    Modeling, design and development of next-generation biomedical devices and therapeutics

  • Imaging, and Visualization
    Implementing advanced data science algorithms for extracting knowledge from basic science and clinical images

  • Biostatistics, Clinical Epidemiology, and Clinical Trials
    Statistical and computational approaches to improve the design of clinical trials and the analysis of clinical data

  • Environmental Medicine and Public Health
    Using innovative data science to discover hidden patterns in noisy data that can positively affect public health

  • Health System Design
    Uses computational approaches to help build more robust and cost effective healthh systems

  • Health Information Technology
    Devising methods to exploit new technology such as mobile and wearable devices to improve wellness 

Harnessing big data could be the key to returning a child with cancer to health or sparing a grandmother with Alzheimer’s disease from heartbreaking decline. Our Initiative is committed to uniting Mount Sinai’s research and educational efforts in order to contribute to the advancement of precision medicine with the ultimate goal of helping all patients achieve optimal health.