Biological and Medical Informatics (PhD)
Degree Offered: PhD
Program Leadership:
Tony Capra, Program Co-Director
Ryan Hernandez, Program Co-Director
Admissions Inquiries:
Rebecca Dawson, Program Coordinator
Program Description
The Biological and Medical Informatics (BMI) program trains diverse PhD students to become scientific leaders at the interface between computation, statistics, and biology. The program equips trainees with the skills and knowledge in computer science, clinical informatics, statistics, machine learning, physics, chemistry, and biology needed to study the composition, structure, function, and evolution of biological systems across molecular, cellular, and systems levels. These quantitative skills are essential for scientific progress given the massive biological and clinical data sets being generated across domains. Our students go on to be leaders in bioinformatics research across academia and industry.
UCSF researchers are pioneers in many bioinformatics areas including machine learning, human genetics and evolution, immunology, single-cell genomics, gene regulation, electronic health records, protein structure prediction, and drug design. With these diverse faculty interests, students are presented with a wide range of areas to explore and integrate. The BMI faculty include members of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Medicine, Howard Hughes Investigators, and National Institutes of Health New Innovator Awardees.
Faculty
Over 50 faculty members teach and mentor students in the BMI program. Faculty members are affiliated with the departments of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Biophysics, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Microbiology and Immunology, Medicine, Neurology, and Surgery; as well as the Gladstone Institute and Institute for Human Genetics.
Sub-disciplines
The BMI program is a member of the Quantitative Biosciences Consortium (QBC) with the following areas of emphasis:
- Bioinformatics and computational biology
- Genetics and genomics
- Complex biological systems
The BMI program office is located at the Mission Bay campus. Visit the program website for more information.
The BMI program is offered by the UCSF Graduate Division, administered by the UCSF School of Pharmacy, and delivered by faculty members in the UCSF schools of pharmacy and medicine.
Learning Outcomes
The BMI Program will provide our students with both a foundation in computational/statistical approaches and a sophisticated understanding of biology, including not only sophisticated computational approaches for modeling and data analysis, but also a deep understanding of how data are collected, processed, and interpreted.
The program seeks to bridge computational and biomedical research methods. In particular, the ability to use quantitative models to derive predictions that can be rigorously tested and to synthesize vast amounts of information into quantitative models, and effectively communicate their findings.
At the core of our program is an emphasis on scientific excellence and a focus on training in the tools, methods and knowledge necessary to conduct independent, rigorous, reproducible, and impactful research. Concurrently, we recognize that additional competencies—including leadership, management, effective written and oral presentation, communication and teamwork skills—are needed for our students to successfully compete in their future positions in academia, industry, or the public sector. To address this need, we provide proactive mentoring and diverse professional development opportunities to help each student optimally prepare for their careers.
Additional Information
Program Faculty
- Find a program faculty list on the program website.
Career Outcomes
- Find career outcomes and other data on PhD programs on the Graduate Division website.