This course offers a comprehensive introduction to the core computational methods driving modern biomedical research and health data science. As biological and clinical datasets grow in scale and complexity—from genomic sequences and molecular profiles to electronic health records (EHRs) and consumer health data—this course equips students with the essential computational foundations to model, analyze, and interpret high-dimensional biomedical data.
Organized around key algorithmic challenges spanning Clinical Informatics, Consumer Health Informatics, and Bioinformatics, the course focuses on the design and application of algorithms and statistical models to solve real-world biomedical problems. Lectures emphasize practical techniques and showcase their use across diverse biomedical data types.
Designed for advanced undergraduates and graduate students in biomedical informatics, computer science, biomedical engineering, applied mathematics, and related fields, this course builds a rigorous understanding of computational biomedicine. It serves as a core requirement for the Biomedical Informatics PhD and master’s programs and is cross-listed with Computer Science. Students interested in careers in bioinformatics, health data science, computational biology, or biomedical AI will find this course especially valuable.
As biomedical data continue to expand in size, diversity, and impact, this course provides a critical foundation in the algorithmic, statistical, and computational tools needed to advance the future of research at the intersection of computation and human health.
This course is customized for 1st-year PhD and MA students in the biomedical informatics graduate program and also
open to other interested students at Columbia. It provides a detailed overview of symbolic methods.
Prerequisite: open to public. Presentations by medical informatics faculty and invited international speakers in medical informatics, computer science, nursing informatics, library science, and related fields.
Research in medical informatics under the direction of a faculty adviser.
Research in medical informatics under the direction of a faculty adviser.
Prerequisite: approval of adviser. Readings on topics in medical informatics under the direction of a faculty adviser.
Prerequisite: instructors permission. Participation in medical informatics educational activities under the direction of a faculty adviser.
Prerequisite: completion of all M.Phil. requirements, and approval of a research proposal by the supervising faculty adviser.
Prerequisite: completion of all M.Phil. requirements. Ph.D. candidates may be required to register for this course every term during the preparation of the dissertation.