The Department of Health Outcomes & Policy’s Ph.D. in Medical Sciences with a concentration in Biomedical Informatics was approved by the UF Graduate School on September 15.
The multidisciplinary program features health outcomes, computer science, biostatistics and philosophy courses from across the UF campus to equip students with the advanced concepts they need for academic and research careers in the growing field of biomedical informatics. The goal is to begin recruiting students for Fall 2017 enrollment in the 90 credit, on-campus program.
“This program is the capstone of more than two years of effort to bridge a critical gap in the educational offerings at the University of Florida,” said Bill Hogan, M.D., M.S., professor of health outcomes and policy and director of the biomedical informatics program at the UF CTSI. “Now, UF has a suite of biomedical informatics degrees that will help develop the translational science workforce of the state. The Ph.D., in particular, will amply prepare students to pursue faculty-level positions in this rapidly expanding field and educate experts who will help drive innovation in health care and research.”
Doctoral students will benefit from the vibrant research environment within the Department of Health Outcomes & Policy, which includes the ability to collaborate with faculty working on the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute’s Clinical Data Research Network (CDRN) within the OneFlorida Clinical Research Consortium. UF serves as the Coordinating Center for the statewide CDRN, one of only 13 nationwide.
“I’d like to acknowledge the work of Francois Modave, Ph.D., in spearheading the approval process for this doctoral program,” said Hogan, who serves as co-principal investigator for the CDRN. “Our ability to build the certificate, M.S. and Ph.D. in biomedical informatics is due to crucial hires through the UF Preeminence Initiative and the resulting synergy with existing expertise in departments across campus. I am excited about what the future holds for this field at our state’s flagship institution.”