The National Center for Integrative Biomedical Informatics (NCIBI)

The National Center for Integrative Biomedical Informatics (NCIBI) was founded in October 2005 and is one of seven National Centers for Biomedical Computing (NCBC) in the NIH Roadmap. NCIBI is based at the University of Michigan as a part of the Center for Computational Medicine and Biology (CCMB). The Center develops conceptual models, computational infrastructure, an integrated knowledge repository, and query and analysis tools that enable scientists to effectively access and integrate the wealth of biological data.

NCIBI is composed of biomedical researchers, computational biologists, computer scientists, developers and human-computer interaction specialists organized into seven major core functions (please see structure). They work in interdisciplinary teams to collectively develop tools that are not only computationally powerful but also biologically relevant and meaningful.

The four initial Driving Biological Projects (prostate cancer progression, Type 1 and type 2 diabetes and bipolar disorder) provide the nucleation point from which tool development is informed, launched, and tested. In addition to testing tools for function, a separate team is dedicated to testing usability and user interaction that is a unique feature of this Center.

Once tools are developed and validated the goal of the Center is to share and disseminate data and software throughout the research community both internally and externally. This is achieved through various mechanisms such as training videos, tutorials, and demonstrations and presentations at national and international scientific conferences.

 

NCIBI is supported by NIH Grant # U54-DA021519.