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NLM Training Program in Biomedical Informatics and Computational Biology

Funded by the National Library of Medicine (NLM)

  • Program Director: Dr. Lydia Kavraki, Rice University
  • Program Co-Director: Dr. Elmer Bernstam, UTHealth
  • Eligibility Requirements – US/Dual Citizen or Permanent Resident having Green Card

The NLM Training Program in Biomedical Informatics and Data Science addresses challenges facing biomedical informatics, namely how to address the digital information streaming from innumerable sensors, instruments and simulations that is outrunning our capacity to accumulate, organize and analyze it for making healthcare decisions. This program provides cross-training at the interface between computational/ mathematical sciences and biological sciences/biomedicine. Research projects may be in the domains of healthcare/clinical informatics, translational informatics, and clinical research informatics.

Trainees profit from interdisciplinary training through two mentors, one biomedical, the other computational, as well as a customized curriculum that meets each predoctoral and postdoctoral trainee’s research interests, previous coursework, and knowledge gaps.

This program serves the training needs of those who wish to make biomedical informatics a part of their career plan. This can be a young physician who wishes to expand her/his analytical and computational knowledge of computer-assisted analysis, simulation and multi-dimensional imaging in order to conduct research in biomedical informatics; a biologist who wants to further his/her expertise in functional genomics; or a computer scientist who wants to prepare her/himself for a research career in biomedical informatics and data science. 

Benefits for PhD student (predoctoral) trainees:

  • Candidates must be enrolled in a PhD program; those enrolled in Master’s programs are not eligible
  • Candidates are eligible to apply at the end of their first year of graduate school, or when they have chosen their mentor and thesis project.
  • 12-month fellowship
  • May compete for reappointment (for a total of three years) if progress is satisfactory
  • Annual stipend of $24,324 in FY18
  • Partial support for tuition, fees, and health insurance
  • Partial support for travel
  • Primary mentor and/or department is responsible for fringe, and the remainder of the tuition, fees, and health insurance.

Benefits for postdoctoral trainees:

  • 12-month fellowship
  • May compete for reappointment (for a total of two years) if progress is satisfactory
  • FY18 NIH annual stipend of $48,432 or higher, depending on post-PhD years of training
  • Partial tuition/fee support for courses required by the fellowship
  • Partial support for health insurance
  • Partial support for travel
  • Primary mentor and/or department is responsible for fringe, and any remainder of the tuition, fees, and health insurance.

For further information on fellowship applications and deadlines, faculty eligibility, and a list of current and past trainees, visit http://www.gulfcoastconsortia.org/home/training/bmi-nlm/.