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Course Meeting Times

Lectures: Two sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session

Course Overview

This course provides an interdisciplinary introduction to the technological advances in biomedical informatics and their applications at the intersection of computer science and biomedical research. Lecturers include leaders in computational genomics and bioinformatics, CIOs of major hospitals and HMOs, and biosecurity experts.

Text

Shortliffe, Edward H., and Leslie E. Perreault, eds. Medical Informatics: Computer Applications in Health Care and Biomedicine. Gio Wiederhold, and Lawrence M. Fagan (associated editors). 2nd ed. New York, NY: Springer, 2003. ISBN: 9780387984728 .

Grading

Grades will be determined by a combination of three factors, with approximately the following contributions:

Class Participation (20%)

Attendance and contribution to discussions are a critical component of the class. Much of the material will be taught by guest lecturers who are uniquely knowledgeable in their areas.

Homework Assignments (20%)

We plan to give a half-dozen homework assignments. Some of these will include programming tasks as well as thinking and writing.

Midterm Examination (20%)

There will be a midterm examination for this course. Students will have 90 minutes to complete the assignment in class. No books or computers allowed.

Project (40%)

Students will work on projects of their own choice related to the topic of the class. Grading will be based on both a written paper due at the end of the semester and oral class presentations on each project.

Note: With the exception of medical excuses, assignments will be penalized 50% if they are turned in up to two days late, and will receive no credit thereafter.

The weightage distribution is as shown in the table below: