Our research laboratories:

Center for Biomedical Informatics (Harvard Medical School)

The Center for Biomedical Informatics (CBMI) is a research center that promotes and facilitates collaborative activities in biomedical informatics among researchers at Harvard Medical School and its affiliated institutions. CBMI also provides leadership for the informatics activities of the Harvard Catalyst, Harvard’s Clinical and Translational Science Center. CBMI conducts research in several broad areas: bioinformatics, clinical informatics, translational science, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Drs. Alexa McCray and Isaac Kohane co-direct CBMI.

Center for Clinical and Quality Analysis (Brigham and Women’s Hospital)

The Clinical and Quality Analysis (CQA) Group conducts research evaluating the impact of clinical information systems on patient safety, quality, and care delivery. CQA’s efforts promote the understanding of the value of healthcare information technology and inform the design, development, and implementation of effective tools to support quality patient care. In addition to building its own information systems, the Center staff is also involved in clinical trial design and implementation. Dr. David Bates directs CQA.

Center for Evidence Based Imaging (Brigham and Women’s Hospital)

The Center for Evidence Based Imaging’s (CEBI) mission is enabling measurable improvements in quality, safety, and efficiency of care in day to day practice of medicine using healthcare informatics in the context of medical imaging. Using a multi-disciplinary collaborative approach with researchers, healthcare providers, systems engineers, process and change management professionals, CEBI researchers help create, implement, and measure impact of innovative health IT tools in the clinical environment. Dr. Ramin Khorasani directs CEBI, and Dr. Katherine Andriole co-directs its training activities.

Children’s Hospital Informatics Program (Children’s Hospital Boston)

The Children’s Hospital Informatics Program (CHIP) is a multidisciplinary applied research and education program at Children’s Hospital Boston. CHIP investigators work at the intersection of information science, healthcare, and biomedical discovery, advancing the state-of-the-art in functional genomics, personalized medicine, biomedical research collaboration, and public health. Dr. Isaac Kohane directs CHIP, and Dr. Kenneth Mandl directs its training activities.

Clinical Informatics Research and Development (Partners HealthCare)

The Clinical Informatics Research and Development (CIRD) group is responsible for leading the development of clinical informatics infrastructure for Partners HealthCare, conducting applied informatics research and development, and addressing key design and strategy issues in Partners’ enterprise clinical systems (especially those involving complex clinical workflows, usability, controlled terminology, knowledge management, and clinical decision support). Dr. Blackford Middleton directs CIRD.

Clinical Decision Making Group (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

The Clinical Decision Making Group (CDMG) of the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory is a research group dedicated to exploring and furthering the application of computer technology and artificial intelligence to clinical settings. The group focuses on research on extracting formal clinical data from narrative medical records and doctor-patient conversations, building predictive decision support models in support of diagnosis and therapy planning, and development of new machine learning techniques to learn relationships based on a combination of clinical and genomic data.  Dr. Peter Szolovits directs CDMG.

Division of Clinical Informatics (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center)

The Division of Clinical Informatics (DCI) aims to improve the quality and reduce the cost of medical care, enhance the quality of medical education, improve the relationship between doctors and patients, and explore innovative approaches to research through computing. The Division has two primary interest areas: information systems that support doctors and nurses in patient care, and empowerment of patients to participate in their own care. The Division’s work includes patient-centered computing, family-centered computing, and population-based computing. Dr. Charles Safran directs DCI.

Laboratory of Computer Science (Massachusetts General Hospital)

The Laboratory of Computer Science is a division of the Department of Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. It has several areas of emphasis: teaching, research, clinical services, and industry relations and translational science with the goal of commercializing technologies. The Laboratory pursues basic and applied research to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of information management and to provide “Just in Time” access to clinical and research knowledge. Dr. Henry Chueh directs LCS, and Dr. William Lester co-directs its training activities.

Center for Health Decision Science (Harvard School of Public Health)

The Center for Health Decision Science aims to inform policies and practices in health by systematically integrating scientific evidence with explicit consideration of individual and societal values for critical outcomes including mortality, quality of life, and cost. While most fields of research focus on producing new knowledge, decision science is uniquely concerned with making good choices based on available information, and in the presence of uncertainty, complexity, competing values, and tradeoffs.

Division of Clinical Decision Making, Informatics, and Telemedicine (Tufts Medical Center)

Under the guidance of Drs. Stephen Pauker and Jerome Kassirer the Division of Clinical Decision Making, Informatics, and Telemedicine was formally established within the Department of Medicine in 1980 to conduct research, teach, train physicians and provide consultations. The Clinical Consultation Service responds to requests from physicians who are uncertain as to the optimal management strategy for a given individual patient and provides advice based on literature review and formal decision analysis explicitly weighing the risks and benefits of the alternatives.

Medical Information Systems Unit (Boston Medical Center)

The MISU was established in 1980 as a Unit in the Section of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston University and Boston Medical Center. The original focus of the Unit was on the development and evaluation of computer-based systems to assist in the conduct of randomized clinical trials, particularly cancer care. The current mission of the MISU is to develop and evaluate automated systems for monitoring, educating, and counseling patients and consumers regarding their health, and to facilitate the care that they receive from health providers.