Transcript Edward H. Shortliffe, MD, PhD

Defining Biomedical Informatics and its
Relationship to Dental Research and Practice
Edward H. Shortliffe, MD, PhD
College of Physicians & Surgeons
Columbia University
Dental Informatics & Dental Research:
Making the Connection
National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
June 12, 2003
What is Medical Informatics?
The scientific field that deals with the
storage, retrieval, sharing, and optimal use
of biomedical information, data, and
knowledge for problem solving and
decision making.
Medical informatics touches on all basic
and applied fields in biomedical science
and is closely tied to modern information
technologies, notably in the areas of
computing and communication.
Medical Informatics in Perspective
Basic Research
Methods, Techniques, and Theories
Public Health
Applied Research
Clinical
Medicine
Nursing
Veterinary
Medicine
Dentistry
Visualization
Molecular
Biology
Medical Informatics in Perspective
Basic Research
Methods, Techniques, and Theories
Public Health
Informatics
Applied Research
Clinical
Medicine
Informatics
Nursing
Informatics
Dental
Informatics
Veterinary
Informatics
Imaging
Informatics
Bioinformatics
Medical Informatics in Perspective
Basic Research
Methods, Techniques, and Theories
Public Health
Informatics
Applied Research
Clinical
Medicine
Informatics
Nursing
Informatics
Dental
Informatics
Veterinary
Informatics
Imaging
Informatics
Bioinformatics
Clinical
Medical Informatics in Perspective
Medical Informatics
Basic Research
Methods, Techniques, and Theories
Bioinformatics
Applied Research
Imaging
Informatics
Clinical
Informatics
Public Health
Informatics
Medical Informatics in Perspective
Basic Research
Applied Research
Medical Informatics Methods,
Techniques, and Theories
Bioinformatics
Molecular and
Cellular
Processes
Imaging
Clinical
Informatics Informatics
Tissues and
Organs
Individuals
(Patients)
Public Health
Informatics
Populations
And Society
Medical Informatics in Perspective
Medical Informatics Methods,
Techniques, and Theories
Bioinformatics
Imaging
Clinical
Informatics Informatics
Public Health
Informatics
Medical Informatics in Perspective
Biomedical
Bioinformatics Methods,
Techniques, and Theories
Medical Informatics Methods,
Techniques, and Theories
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Bioinformatics
Imaging
Clinical
Informatics Informatics
Public Health
Informatics
Biomedical Informatics in Perspective
Basic Research
Applied Research
Biomedical Informatics Methods,
Techniques, and Theories
Bioinformatics
Molecular and
Cellular
Processes
Imaging
Clinical
Informatics Informatics
Tissues and
Organs
Individuals
(Patients)
Public Health
Informatics
Populations
And Society
Examples of Growing Synergies
Between Clinical and Bio- Informatics
• Applications at the intersection of genetic and
phenotypic data
– e.g., pharmacogenomics
– e.g., identification of patient subgroups
• Shared methodologies with broad applicability
– e.g., natural language and text processing
– e.g., cognitive modeling of human-computer
interaction
– e.g., imaging (organs, biomolecular, 3D)
– e.g., inferring structure from primary data
– e.g., data mining (knowledge extraction) from
large datasets
Journal of Biomedical Informatics
• Formerly “Computers and
Biomedical Research”
• Volume 36 in 2003
• Emphasizes
methodologic innovation
rather than applications,
although all innovations
are motivated by applied
biomedical goals
Biomedical Informatics in Perspective
Contribute to...
Biomedical Informatics Methods,
Techniques, and Theories
Other
Management
Information
Computer
Cognitive
Decision
Component
Sciences
Sciences
Science
Sciences
Draw upon….
Contributes to….
Applied
Informatics
Biomedical
Domain
Draws upon….
Core of Biomedical Informatics As
An Academic Discipline
Biomedical
Knowledge
Knowledge
Base
Biomedical
Data
Inferencing
System
Data
Base
Biomedical Informatics Research Areas
Biomedical
Knowledge
Machine learning
Text interpretation
Knowledge engineering
Knowledge
Acquisition
Knowledge
Base
Model
Development
Information
Retrieval
Diagnosis
Biomedical
Data
Biomedical
Research
Planning &
Data Analysis
Data
Acquisition
Inferencing
System
Data
Base
Treatment
Planning
Human
Interface
Real-time acquisition
Imaging
Speech/language/text
Specialized input devices
Teaching
Image
Generation
Examples from a Recent Columbia
Retreat: Cross Cutting Methodologies
• Natural language and text
processing
• Knowledge representation and
structuring / ontology
development
• Cognitive science in biomedical
informatics
• Data mining
• 3-dimensional modeling
Biomedical Informatics in Perspective
Contribute to...
Computer
Science,
Decision
Science,
Cognitive
Science,
Information
Sciences,
Management
Sciences
and other
Component
Sciences
Biomedical Informatics Methods,
Techniques, and Theories
Draw upon….
Contributes to….
Bioinformatics
Draws upon….
Structural
Biology,
Genetics,
Molecular
Biology
Dental Informatics
• Significant opportunities
for research across the
spectrum of biomedical
informatics application
areas (bioinformatics,
imaging, clinical, public
health)
• Challenges exist that can
help to drive innovation
and scientific contributions
in biomedical informatics
and in other, nonbiomedical, areas of
application
Biomedical Informatics in Perspective
Contribute to...
Computer
Science,
Decision
Science,
Cognitive
Science,
Information
Sciences,
Management
Sciences
and other
Component
Sciences
Biomedical Informatics Methods,
Techniques, and Theories
Draw upon….
Contributes to….
Dental
Informatics
Draws upon….
Oral
Medicine,
Dentistry,
Craniofacial
Surgery,
Dental
Research
Challenges For Academic Informatics
• Explaining that there are fundamental
research issues in the field in addition
to applications and tool building
• Finding the right mix between
research/training and service
requirements
• Developing and nurturing the diverse
collegial and scientific relationships
typical of an interdisciplinary field
Academic Informatics:
Lessons We Have Learned
• Service activities can stimulate new research and
educational opportunities
• Need to have enough depth in faculty to span a
range of skills and professional orientations
• Need to protect students from projects on critical
paths to meeting service requirements
• Institutional support and commitment are crucial
–Financial stability
–Visibility and credibility with colleagues in other
health science departments and schools
Training Future
Biomedical Informatics Professionals
The Problem:
There are too few trained
professionals, knowledgeable about
both biomedicine and the
component sciences in biomedical
informatics
The Solution:
Formal training in biomedical
informatics, with the definition of a
core discipline and specialized
elective opportunities
Curriculum Development
Perspective of our Department of Biomedical Informatics
• Basic objectives: fundamental areas of biomedicine,
computer science and mathematics that are
prerequisites for further study in Biomedical Informatics
• Core objectives: essential skills required by all
Biomedical Informatics students
• General objectives: ability to conduct research and
participate in the educational activities of the field
• Specialized objectives: application of general methods
and theories in at least one of four different areas:
bioinformatics, imaging informatics, clinical informatics,
and public health informatics
Biomedical Informatics Disciplines
Computer
Science
(software)
Computer
Science
(hardware)
Cognitive Science
& Decision Making
Bioengineering
Biomedical
Informatics
Epidemiology
And Statistics
Management
Sciences
Clinical
Topics
Basic Biomedical
Sciences
Biomedical Informatics Curriculum
Major subject areas:
1. Biomedical Informatics
2. Biomedicine
3. Computer Science
4. Decision and Cognitive Sciences
5. Public Policy and Social Issues
1. Biomedical Informatics Courses
• Computer applications in health care
• Computer-assisted medical decision making
• Bioinformatics (computational biology)
• Biomedical imaging (imaging informatics)
• Programming projects course
• Weekly student seminars (topic review or
research report by students)
• Weekly research colloquium
• Biomedical informatics “civics”
Medical
Biomedical
Informatics
Textbook
(2nd
(3rd
edition)
Springer Verlag - 2000
2004?
Bio
Program Characteristics
Steady-state program size:
45-50 students
– Dental informatics postdocs
Applications per year:
Admissions per year:
3 students
~130 candidates
8-10 students
Principal faculty:
Participating and consulting faculty:
30
~20
Trainees generally supported on a training
grant, as graduate research assistants on
sponsored projects, or as teaching assistants
Doctoral Research in Informatics
• Although they are inspired by biomedical
application goals, dissertations in biomedical
informatics must:
–offer methodological innovation, not simply
interesting programming artifacts
–generalize to other domains, within or
outside biomedicine
• Inherently interdisciplinary, biomedical
informatics provides bridging expertise and
opportunities for collaboration between
computer scientists and biomedical
researchers and practitioners
Career Paths for Biomedical
Informatics Professionals
• Academic biomedical informatics research and
development, and educational support
• Clinical, administrative, and educational
management
• Operational service management
• Health system chief information officer or
medical/nursing director for information
technology
• Digital library development and implementation
• Corporate research and development
• Biotechnology/pharmaceutical companies
Trends
• Creation of several new biomedical informatics
departments or independent academic units
• Reasonably strong job market for graduates of
informatics degree programs
• Government investment in training and research is
reasonably strong, especially for applications and
demonstrations
• Increasing acceptance of biomedical informatics as
an emerging subspecialty area by biomedical
professional societies
• Increasing recognition that biomedical problems can
drive the development of basic theory and
capabilities in information technology research