Biomedical Informatics

Entry requirements

Applicants should have:

Biostatistics background, including, for example:

• Hypothesis testing
• Linear regression
• Classification basics: what it is, how to test and diagnose a classifier (e.g.sensitivity/specificity)

Programming and computer science:

• Experience with at least one programming language (including knowledge and understanding of algorithms, variables, control structures, etc.)
• Knowledge of the basics of the R programming language
• Data handling (e.g. managing files, parsing data, basic database principle

Months of entry

August

Course content

This program is aimed at bachelor's degree holders with a strong quantitative skill and is offered by Harvard Medical School.

The practice of clinical care and biomedical investigation each constitute complex enterprises that are increasingly dependent on the mastery of enormous data streams. There is increasing urgency to leverage the rapid advances in genomic science, the near ubiquity of health information technology, and new methods for managing and analyzing large data sets to accelerate biomedical discovery and improve the delivery of health care. Our goal is to equip our students with the knowledge, skills, and experiences needed to engage meaningfully in the field of biomedical informatics.

The program includes an intensive, hands-on bootcamp, a range of foundational courses in quantitative and biomedical subjects, as well as courses in emerging areas such as precision medicine, data science, and data visualization. All students are expected to complete a capstone research project and to participate in a longitudinal seminar series.

Fees and funding

British citizens who are – or will be – graduates of British universities should check out both Kennedy Scholarships and Frank Knox Fellowships.

Both of these awards offer full tuition and health insurance coverage and a generous stipend towards living expenses. They are offered annually in competition.

Please note that you will need to submit your application to either or both awards ahead of the deadline for your (totally separate and independent) Harvard application. Kennedy Scholarship and Frank Knox Fellowship applications are to be made online via their websites between mid-August and late-October in the same application season as you will submit your application to Harvard. Awards made at interview in London in January are provisional, pending confirmation of a place on the course.