Department of Biomedical Informatics News and Stories

Exploring diverse ancestry is a critical factor in furthering medical research.  

A new study published in Nature Genetics from researchers in the Department of Biomedical Informatics (DBMI) at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, in partnership with the University of California San Francisco and Stanford University, is the largest of its kind that focuses on ancestry correlations with biomedical traits and the first study to examine the role of genetic variants across diverse ancestries in regulating gene expression.

Kara Mason | May 25, 2023

Researchers in the Department of Biomedical Informatics (DBMI) at the University of Colorado School of Medicine have reached a major milestone in developing standards and tools for creating phenopackets that may foster more innovation and advancement in the medical field by allowing health professionals to more easily collect and share data.

Kara Mason | May 17, 2023

Following an analysis of more than 20,000 articles by researchers in the Department of Biomedical Informatics (DBMI) at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, a major science publication is implementing new policies to improve the diversity of its sources.

Kara Mason | April 05, 2023

As the world explores the new possibilities and uses of artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT, researchers at the University of Colorado Department of Biomedical Informatics (DBMI) are integrating similar models into academic authoring.

Rachel Wittel | February 22, 2023

For years, David Albers, PhD, associate professor of biomedical informatics at University of Colorado School of Medicine, has been haunted by a friend’s death. It was long before Albers contemplated a career in health care, when he was an undergrad studying physics and taking music lessons in his spare time from accomplished jazz musician Tony Williams.

Toni Lapp | January 31, 2023

New research from the Department of Biomedical Informatics (DBMI) at the University of Colorado School of Medicine has identified 45 genes whose gene expression is associated with body mass index (BMI), many of which have not been explored in obesity research before, after conducting a study using a multiethnic cohort.

Toni Lapp | January 18, 2023

Researchers in the Department of Biomedical Informatics (DBMI) at the University of Colorado School of Medicine spearheaded an innovative method to synthesize and compile accurate information about COVID-19 since the onset of the global pandemic in 2020.

Toni Lapp | January 12, 2023

Using data from studies published in the medical literature over a 40-year time span, Peter DeWitt, PhD, a University of Colorado School of Medicine data scientist in the Department of Biomedical Informatics (DBMI), has developed an automated algorithm to address gaps in children’s blood pressure percentiles, providing a way to directly compare blood pressure measurements for children of the same age, sex, and height.

Toni Lapp | December 12, 2022

Nicholas Dwork, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Informatics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, has filed a provisional patent for a technology that could increase scan speeds of three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The invention could lead to faster results, increase the clinical applications of MRIs, and ultimately improve patient care.

Toni Lapp | December 05, 2022

Toan Ong, PhD, associate professor of biomedical informatics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, has been approved for a $1.05 million funding award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) for a project that will improve methods of conducting research using electronic health records (EHRs).

Toni Lapp | November 28, 2022

From the University of Colorado Department of Biomedical Informatics (DBMI) offices on the top floor of the Anschutz Health Sciences Building, one sees sweeping views of Denver and the Rocky Mountains. DBMI Assistant Professor Katrina Claw, PhD, sees the lands that Native American tribes have called their home.

Toni Lapp | November 21, 2022

Overflowing intensive care units. A shortage of personal protective equipment. A scramble for hospital beds and ventilators. Health care workers pushed to the brink. The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare many well-documented vulnerabilities of health care systems. The need for accurate and early clinical assessment of severity related to COVID-19 was vital to developing crisis standards of care to meet the growing pandemic. These standards of care are informed by mortality prediction models, which assess the risk of imminent death in patients.

Toni Lapp | September 22, 2022

Connecting basic science and medicine with clinical and translational scientists, the University of Colorado School of Medicine is introducing the Department of Biomedical Informatics (DBMI) to enhance clinical care through integrated computational technology, laboratory investigations, and artificial intelligence (AI).

Rachel Wittel | July 06, 2022