Biomedical Informatics and Data Science Training Program (BIDS-TP)

This is a new application to support a novel Biomedical Informatics and Data Science Training Program (BIDS-TP) at the University of Michigan (UM). The overarching goal of the BIDS-TP is to train a cadre of data- savvy, computationally-skilled, and highly-motivated biomedical scholars in an intellectually-stimulating

environment using an effective competency-based curriculum. To enhance their scientific, clinical, and translational abilities, all BIDS-TP students will be trained in collecting, managing, processing, interrogating, and analyzing large amounts of complex high-dimensional biomedical information with rigor and transparency.

Throughout the 5-year funding cycle, the Program will annually support 12 Fellows (6-Year 1 and 6- Year 2). Program participants will also include additional 10 Trainees that are fully-engaged, but funded by other mechanisms. The BIDS-TP program represents a unique collaboration between the UM’s Department of

Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics (DCMB) and the Michigan Institute for Data Science (MIDAS). This partnership will provide immersive synergistic activities, translational education, transdisciplinary research projects, co-mentoring, and career development for all BIDS-TP Fellows and Trainees. Feeder graduate

programs with eligible pre-doctoral trainees include DCMB and MIDAS doctoral students from engineering, mathematics, statistics, public health, and information sciences. Thirty-six UM faculty members from 6 UM Schools and Colleges will provide breadth and depth of scholarly research, co-mentoring, career coaching, and

student-specific curriculum development. The BIDS-TP curriculum requires all trainees to complete the add-on graduate data science certificate program, and to actively participate in BIDS-TP workshops, seminars, and short-courses on biomedical informatics, health analytics, and computational data science.

Capitalizing on the extensive database of successful DCMB, MIDAS, and Rackham Graduate School alumni, the Program will support professional networking, practical career mentorship, employment and career opportunities to promote the next generation of biomedical and health data science leaders. All scholars will be

encouraged to focus their energy to design rigorous experiments, and develop effective techniques to tackle critical challenges, address unmet needs, and bridge scientific knowledge gaps. The strong, interdisciplinary, and trainee-mentor tailored curriculum plans will facilitate trainee’s growth, employability, and positioning to

contribute to the NIH mission to discover, model, understand and treat complex human disorders. BIDS-TP will increase the capacity, ability, and efficacy of the US workforce to address known and unexpected biomedical, health and environmental challenges using advanced bioinformatics and data science techniques. As a

premiere global institution, UM is dedicated to research, education and training of biomedical and data science graduate students. There are a number of complementary and synergistic UM activities that will support the BIDS-TP trainees and mentors in fertilizing interdisciplinary, collaborative, and cutting edge research.