Student Learning Outcomes

Students graduating from this program will:

• Identify and extract data necessary for a given research question.
• Use statistics to analyze and interpret data.
• Design a testable research question or hypothesis.
• Identify responsible conduct of research resources and develop strategies for protecting oneself from scientific misconduct.
• Communicate scientific outcomes.
• Describe common epidemiologic studies, test for causal associations, and evaluate potential noncausal associations. (Applicable only to the Epidemiology and Biostatistics emphasis area)

Program Description

The Department of Biomedical and Health Informatics at the School of Medicine offers the Master of Science in Bioinformatics degree. Students may complete the degree with one of five emphasis areas (Clinical Research, Computational Bioinformatics, Genomic Bioinformatics, Individualized Informatics, or Epidemiology and Biostatistics).

The program is designed to prepare a new generation of informatics professionals with the necessary skills to work collaboratively to advance health sciences. Graduates are expected to be effective team members who can contribute to education, research, and development in bioinformatics and/or clinical research. This degree program prepares students to assume various professional informatics positions in translational research and development, institutional management, public policy, information systems, hospitals, private industry, or as clinical research team members. 

The Master of Science in Bioinformatics may be completed with the thesis, Capstone, or no thesis options. Students interested in pursuing a career involving future independent or team research or doctoral training should enroll in the thesis track.  The Capstone track is available for students pursuing industry careers, where demonstration of specific skills and expertise is valued. The no thesis option is available for students enrolled in a Fellowship or comparable program or those with a proven publication track record. 

Program Goals

1. Produce competent researchers at the interface of biomedical and health informatics and clinical research
2. Produce graduates able to establish partnerships with stakeholders and the community
3. Produce effective communicators
4. Produce ethical and responsible researchers

Degree Requirements

A minimum of 30 to 36 credit hours are required to earn the Master of Science in Bioinformatics degree (30 for non-thesis track and 36 for thesis/capstone track). Students must complete the program of study while maintaining a 3.0 or better grade point average.  The total number of credit hours, required coursework, and elective coursework, and Thesis, Capstone, and No Thesis requirements vary based on the MS Bioinformatics emphasis area. These options are shown in the tables below.

*Students may choose to complete either a 3-credit hour Capstone course with 3 additional elective credit hours in place of Research and Thesis credit hours.

**Students choosing the No Thesis option do not take Research and Thesis credit hours.

 Admission Requirements

Please visit our Admissions Page to learn about our requirements

Admission Requirements

Please visit our Admissions Page to learn about our requirements.