News and Events
Chair’s Message
We are moving toward our vision with a number of activities across our various programs. We have updated our strategic plan in response to the 10-year academic program review that we recently completed. For our research-oriented MS and PhD programs, we have recently added a specialization in Data Science. We are completing a curriculum revision for our on line applied clinical informatics MS which will be effective Fall 2020. The work of our fellows in the clinical informatics fellowship program has received plaudits from clinical administrators and faculty, and we are currently recruiting a new faculty member in our department to assist with this program (view position description). We are also recruiting a faculty member in medical education to start Summer 2020 (view position description). This is the beginning of a new cycle of admissions to our graduate programs, and we look forward to another productive year, and new growth in our department.
Cordially,
Peter Tarczy-Hornoch, MD
Chair and Professor, Department of Biomedical Informatics and Medical Education
The University of Washington Welcomes New Chief Research Information Officer
The University of Washington is delighted to announce Dr. Shawn Murphy, MD, PhD will be joining the University of Washington as a core faculty in Biomedical Informatics and Medical Education (BIME) with a joint appointment in Neurology. In addition to being a core BIME faculty member and attending in an outpatient neurology clinic, he will be serving as UW Medicine Chief Research Information Officer in IT Services, informatics lead of the Institute for Translational Health Sciences (ITHS) Data Science Core, and the Director of the Institute for Medical Data Sciences (IMDS).
“I am honored and excited to join the Data Science workforce at the University of Washington. I have always admired the closeness UW students have to the top teachers in the tech industry. I am hoping to enable Clinical and Informatics Research to use this and take Data Science and AI to a new level at UW,” said Dr. Murphy.
Dr. Murphy is currently the Chief Research Information Officer at Mass General Brigham and a Professor of Neurology. Over the past 30 years, he has been an integral leader and innovator in supporting research data and technology there. He is the creator of the Research Patient Data Registry (RPDR) and co-founded i2b2 (used in > 300 sites globally) enabling scalable, audit-ready clinical data access for the research community nationally and internationally. Shawn has also been a leading scientific collaborator and principal investigator on numerous multi-institutional NIH grants, including RECOVER, eMerge, ACT, AoU, PCORI, SHRINE and other major award programs that helped elevate MGB into a leader in translational informatics. His work has shaped standards for privacy-preserving data sharing, cohort discovery tools, and clinical data harmonization, influencing research data operations across Mass General Brigham hospitals and enabling thousands of studies per year.
“We are delighted to have Dr. Murphy join UW, bringing decades of expertise in informatics and data science research and operational work around instrumenting the health care enterprise for discovery in the course of clinical care,” said Dr. Peter Tarczy-Hornoch, Chair of BIME and Interim Director for IMDS.
“ITHS welcomes Dr. Murphy to this crucial role. He is exactly the right person to take on the new informatics challenges of clinical and translational research,” said Dr. John Amory, Principal Investigator of ITHS and Associate Dean of Translational Sciences.
Dr. Murphy will be bringing this rich and deep expertise to his UW roles as BIME faculty, Neurology faculty, UW Medicine CRIO, ITHS informatics lead and Institute for Medical Data Science Director.
“I am excited to welcome Dr. Murphy to UW Medicine and confident that his decades of leadership in research informatics at Mass General Brigham will significantly advance our research, data science, and innovation efforts,” said Eric Neil, UW Medicine Chief Information Officer.
Dr. Murphy’s position begins effective February 1, 2026.
Biomedical Informatics and Medical Education Newsletter
January 26, 2026 – January 30, 2026
UPCOMING LECTURES AND SEMINARS
BIME 590
Presenter: Chen Liang, PhD
Thursday, February 5th – 11-11:50 am
850 Republican Street, Building C, Room 123 A/B
Zoom Information: https://washington.zoom.us/my/bime590
Speaker will present In-Person
Title: Progress and opportunities of informatics and data science to understand kidney diseases
Abstract:
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) and acute kidney injury (AKI) are heterogeneous syndromes, where each condition possesses robust histopathologic associations, molecular profiles, possible interactions within tissue neighborhoods, and with variation in patient historical conditions, outcomes and treatment responses. Kidney Precision Medicine Project (KPMP) as an effort of precision medicine has attempted to establish an atlas of spatially anchored cellular and molecular cell types and states, interconnected with patient’s longitudinal health records with nuances of kidney and its comorbidities. Proliferation of AI and data science offered promises to fill the gaps in KPMP such as digital pathology and biomedical ontology, yet current challenges such as multi-modal data integration and fusion models of machine learning call for research in action. This presentation will outline perspectives of KPMP, current approaches and outcomes, and discuss existing research questions and opportunities.
Speaker Bio:
Dr. Liang is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Informatics at University of Washington, a Fellow of the American Medical Informatics Association. Nationally, he has served as the Data and Technology Advancement (DATA) Scholar working at NIH/NIDDK. His research has centered on multi-modal health data integration, common data models, biomedical ontology, EHR-based deep phenotyping and data mining, and machine-learning-based clinical predictive models to be used for augmenting Clinical Decision Support Systems, diagnostics, screening, comorbidity reasoning, prognosis prediction, and evidence-based intervention. He has applied these informatics methods in infectious and immune-mediated diseases (e.g., COVID-19, HIV/AIDS) and obstetrics. Most recently, he is involved in precision medicine in nephrology.
PAPERS, PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS
- Sabin J, Guenther GA, Ornelas IJ, Patterson DG, Andrilla CHA, Morales LS, Gujral K, Frogner BK. The Impact of Brief Health Equity/Implicit Bias Education on Patient-Centered Communication Among Clinical Teaching Faculty. Advances in Medical Education and Practice. In Press 2026
- S. Zeng, C. Guo, K.A. Pratte, G. Luo, R.P. Bowler, and M. Arjomandi. Plasma Proteomic Profiles of Lung Volume-based Phenotypes in Tobacco-Exposed Individuals without Spirometric COPD. Annals of the American Thoracic Society (AnnalsATS), 2026.
- Vaquera-Alfaro, H.*, Jeon, Y.*, Wu, Q. V., Liang, E. C., Portuguese, A., Gómez-De León, A., Valdespino-Valdes, J., & Gauthier, J. (2025). A Practical Guide to Competing Risk Analysis for Transplant and Cell Therapy Research. Transplantation and Cellular Therapy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtct.2025.11.003 (*Co-first authors)
- Liang, E. C.*, Jeon, Y.*, Qiao, Y., Wu, X., Huang, J. J., Portuguese, A. J., Basom, R., Torkelson, A., Kirchmeier, D., Braathen, K., Cowan, A. J., Shadman, M., Hirayama, A. V., Till, B. G., Kimble, E. L., Wu, Q., & Gauthier, J. (2026). Time-Series Clustering Captures Patterns of Early Immune Effector Cell–Associated Hematotoxicity That Are Predictable Using Tree-Based Models. JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics, 10, e2500148. https://doi.org/10.1200/CCI.25.00148 (*Co-first authors)
- Jeon, Y., Wu, X., Khouderchah, C., Liang, E., Portuguese, A., Huang, J., Kimble, E., Hirayama, A., Shadman, M., Cowan, A., Dima, D., Banerjee, R., Dhodapkar, M., Fong, L., Wu, Q., Durbin, M., & Gauthier, J. (2025). Independent assessment of ALC thresholds currently in use to predict motor/neurocognitive toxicities (MNTs) after treatment with ciltacabtagene autoleucel. Blood, 146(Supplement 1), 4147. https://doi.org/10.1182/blood-2025-4147
UPCOMING EXAMS
General Exam
Title: Certification of Scientific Manuscripts in the Era of Peer Review Crisis and Generative AI
Student: Tianmai Michael Zhang
Date/Time: Friday February 6, 2-4 pm PT
In-person location: Health Sciences Building, E214
Zoom: https://washington.zoom.us/j/2066162813
Abstract: The validity of scientific publications is fundamental for both the evolution and application of scientific knowledge. In the mainstream workflow, certification of scholarly manuscripts is conducted through journal- or conference-mediated peer review. However, the boundary and process of certification is becoming increasingly blurred in recent years due to factors such as the challenge from the peer review crisis, the impact of generative AI, and the rise of preprint platforms and community-driven peer review. My thesis will investigate the interactions between these factors, the scholarly certification process, and researcher trust in science through a combination of qualitative and quantitative research, focusing primarily on biomedicine and AI domains. Specific aims include:
(1) Curating emerging peer review practices and proposals through a literature review.
(2) Developing a framework of requirements, expectations, and boundaries for AI-assisted certification through qualitative interviews.
(3) Demonstrating, evaluating, and analyzing novel AI applications for manuscript assessment and certification.
January 19, 2026 – January 23, 2026
UPCOMING LECTURES AND SEMINARS
BIME 590
Presenter: John Meddar, PhD, MSc
Thursday, January 29th – 11-11:50 am
850 Republican Street, Building C, Room 123 A/B
Zoom Information: https://washington.zoom.us/my/bime590
Speaker will present In-Person
Title: Patterns of Telemedicine Use and Associations with Uncontrolled Hypertension among Racial and Ethnic Minorities
Abstract:
The COVID-19 pandemic spurred ubiquitous adoption and use of telemedicine, including in one of its promising sub-branches, remote patient monitoring (RPM). This talk explores differential telemedicine use patterns among racial and ethnic minorities in the US during the pandemic and the relationship between RPM utilization frequency and hypertension control.
Telemedicine relates to the use of information and telecommunication technologies for remote provision of care, often with the use of videoconferencing technologies. Similarly, RPM utilizes specialized information and telecommunication technologies to monitor chronic illnesses and transmit physiologic measurements to providers’ electronic health records (EHR). Telemedicine, broadly, has been shown to expand access to healthcare, enhance patient-clinician communication and improve patients’ participatory engagement with healthcare delivery processes. RPM has shown strong potential to improve hypertension treatment and control rates by providing real-time longitudinal care and by fostering programs tailor-fitted to particular clinical contexts and patient population subgroups.
We will explore patterns of telemedicine use across diverse minority populations and compare video-based visits to other relevant visit modalities. We’ll also assess utilization dynamics across varied clinical specialties and geographical contexts. Additionally, we will explore generalized patterns of RPM use across distinct healthcare utilization metrics among a metropolitan-dwelling hypertensive patient cohort and their associations with uncontrolled hypertension and quantify whether the relationship between frequency of use and uncontrolled hypertension vary according to race and ethnicity.
Speaker Bio:
John Meddar is a postdoctoral scholar-fellow in the Department of Biomedical Informatics and Medical Education. His research focus rests principally, though not exclusively, at the forefronts of digital health utilization, digital equity and social determinants of health. John earned his PhD from New York University in population health, his master’s degree from Cornell University in health informatics and a bachelor’s degree from New York City College of Technology in biomedical informatics. His primary research goals are to elucidate and characterize evolving patterns of technology use within and across the healthcare delivery system, interrogating gaps in access and utilization among patient groups disproportionately impacted by digital health inequities in the era of digital medicine. John’s research also aims to investigate and improve the mechanistic processes by which social determinants of health are adequately integrated and adjudicated at the health system level.
PAPERS, PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS
- Dorosan M, Chen YL, He Y, Zhuang Q, Lam SWS
In silico evaluation of algorithm-based clinical decision support systems based on care pathway simulation models: A scoping review
JMIR AI. 18/01/2026:72472 (forthcoming/in press)
DOI: 10.2196/72472
URL: https://preprints.jmir.org/preprint/72472
This paper reviews simulation strategies for representing care pathways (e.g., ABM, DES), examining modeling choices, parameterization, and research gaps.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Greetings everyone – please join us for the winter BIME social hour on January 29th, 4-5pm at the SLU Lounge. We’ll have snacks and mocktails and play Bingo!
January 12, 2026 – January 16, 2026
UPCOMING LECTURES AND SEMINARS
BIME 590
Presenter: Justin Guinney, PhD
Thursday, January 22nd – 11-11:50 am
850 Republican Street, Building C, Room 123 A/B
Zoom Information: https://washington.zoom.us/my/bime590
Speaker will present In-Person
Title: Clinical Insights and Applications in Oncology using a Large Real-World Database
Abstract:
The rapid expansion of new drug modalities, diagnostic capabilities, and analytic approaches has ushered in a new paradigm for precision oncology using large multi-modal datasets and AI. This talk will introduce the institutional agreement recently put in place between Tempus AI and UW that can enable impactful and strategic collaborations using Tempus’ large real-world database. Multiple science vignettes – spanning a variety of data modalities and analytical methodologies – will be presented as examples of the clinical and translational questions that Tempus data can best support.
Speaker Bio:
Dr Justin Guinney is the Senior Vice President of Computational Biology and Cancer Genomics at Tempus AI, where he leads research and development of precision oncology models using Tempus’ large multimodal database. Prior to Tempus, Dr. Guinney was the Vice President of Computational Oncology and principal investigator at the non-profit research institute Sage Bionetworks, where his lab focused on the development of diagnostic, prognostic, and predictive models of disease. Dr. Guinney retains positions as an Affiliate Associate Professor at the University of Washington, and Director of the DREAM Challenges. In this latter role, Dr Guinney organized data and AI challenges for benchmarking methods in biomedicine and bioinformatics. Dr Guinney received a BA in history & pre-medicine from the University of Pennsylvania, a BS in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and a PhD in computational biology and bioinformatics from Duke University.
PAPERS, PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS
- Oliver: “A paper I wrote with some colleagues was highlighted in the American Scientist!”
Finding Humanity in Health Data | American Scientist
Bear Don’t Walk OJ, Paullada A, Everhart A, Casanova-Perez R, Cohen T, Veinot T (2024) Opportunities for incorporating intersectionality into biomedical informatics. Journal of Biomedical Informatics 154:104653 - Conference abstract publications:
Huang, M.J. Falvo, B.W. Richmond, S.E. Hines, A.M. Sotolongo, T. Alexander, S.D. Krefft, D.R. Glick, G. Luo, J.J. Osterholzer, M. Arjomandi, and Post-Deployment Cardiopulmonary Evaluation Network. Distinct Exposure Profiles May Underlie Asthma in Post-deployment Veterans: Findings from a National Cohort of Deployed Veterans. American Thoracic Society (ATS) International Conference (ATS’26), Orlando, FL, May 2026. - Zeng, M.J. Falvo, T. Alexander, N. Jani, G. Luo, M. Arjomandi, and S. E. Hines. Potential Burden of Pulmonary Disability among a National Cohort of Deployed Veterans. American Thoracic Society (ATS) International Conference (ATS’26), Orlando, FL, May 2026.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Bryant thomas Karras MD FACMI (bkarras@uw.edu and Bryant.Karras@doh.wa.gov) CMIO of the WA State dept of HEALTH, a former faculty and now Clinical Faculty of the UW School of Public Health HSPop has been appointed for an additional three-year on the HHS, Health Information Technology Advisory Committee (HITAC), beginning January 1, 2026. The 21 Century Cures Act established HITAC to provide recommendations to the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy and National Coordinator for Health Information Technology on policies, standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria relating to health information technology that advances the electronic access, exchange, and use of health information in the US. This Federal Advisory Committee’s efforts help the HHS ASTP/ONC address challenges related to health information technology. https://www.healthit.gov/hitac/committees/health-information-technology-advisory-committee-hitac/membership
Bryant has also been asked to wear another hat; serving alongside other leaders on the Executive Advisory Committee for the newly launched Washington Alliance for Health Data Exchange (WAHDX).
WAHDX was intentionally designed to be use-case driven, grounded in governance, and shaped by community input. This work reflects a shared belief that Washington can do better when we work together. WAHDX creates a shared, trusted infrastructure so organizations across sectors can collaborate on what really matters – better outcomes. Website: https://wahdx.org/
January 5, 2026 – January 9, 2026
UPCOMING LECTURES AND SEMINARS
BIME 590
Presenter: Favour Nerrise, PhD Candidate
Thursday, January 15th – 11-11:50 am
850 Republican Street, Building C, Room 123 A/B
Zoom Information: https://washington.zoom.us/my/bime590
Speaker will present via Zoom
Title: Discovering Digital Biomarkers for Detecting and Monitoring Neurodegenerative Diseases
Abstract: Neurodegenerative diseases are traditionally evaluated using clinical assessments, neuroimaging, and molecular biomarkers that are costly, episodic, and often insensitive to early or subtle functional changes. While these biomarkers have advanced diagnosis and staging, they provide limited resolution for continuous detection and longitudinal monitoring.
In this talk, I will discuss the emerging role of digital biomarkers derived from wearables, video, and passive sensing technologies as complementary tools for neurodegenerative disease research. I will first contrast traditional biomarkers with digital measures that enable earlier detection through objective, high-frequency characterization of movement and physiological function. I will then focus on digital biomarkers for monitoring, highlighting how longitudinal, multimodal data can capture disease progression and day-to-day variability that are difficult to assess in the clinic.
Together, these approaches illustrate how digital biomarkers can augment existing clinical and biological measures to support earlier detection, more sensitive monitoring, and patient-centered assessment of neurodegenerative disease.
Speaker Bio: Favour is a 5th year Ph.D. student in Electrical Engineering conducting research in the Stanford Translational AI Lab with Dr. Ehsan Adeli and Dr. Kilian Pohl. Her work is supported by the Stanford Graduate Fellowship, Stanford HAI Graduate Fellowship, and Stanford Wu Tsai Institute NeuroTech Training Program Fellowship. Previously, she obtained a B.S. in Computer Science with minors in Arabic and Global Engineering Leadership from the University of Maryland-College Park (Go Terps!). Her current research is focused on using AI-driven methods to discover trackable, digital biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases by identifying neural correlates between neuroimaging and recorded human, movement, or sleep-related disturbances. Ultimately, this work would improve monitoring the progression and digital phenotyping of neurodegenerative diseases of aging. Outside of the lab, Favour loves teaching, traveling, cooking, and watching/playing sports.
PAPERS, PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS
- S. Zeng, S.S. Coggeshall, E.W. Rosser, S.L. Taylor, D.J. Burgess, G. Luo, and S.B. Zeliadt. The Role of Whole Health in Enhancing Tobacco Cessation Outcomes for Veterans: A Retrospective Cohort Study. Journal of General Internal Medicine (JGIM).
December 29, 2025 – January 2, 2026
UPCOMING LECTURES AND SEMINARS
BIME 590
Presenter: Ari Pollack, MD, MS
Thursday, January 8th – 11-11:50 am
850 Republican Street, Building C, Room 123 A/B
Zoom Information: https://washington.zoom.us/my/bime590
Speaker will present via Zoom
Title: Supporting Collaborative Decision Making in Pediatric Chronic Kidney Disease
Abstract: Youth with chronic kidney disease (CKD) face critical challenges as they transition toward independent self-management, yet they rarely have opportunities to participate meaningfully in health-related decisions. Collaborative decision-making (CDM)—where patients, caregivers, and clinicians work together to make informed, values-aligned choices—offers a promising approach, but little is known about how to support CDM in pediatric chronic care, especially pediatric nephrology. This talk presents findings from Kids CoLab, a NIH funded, multi-site mixed-methods study examining CDM in pediatric nephrology. Drawing on clinic observations, stakeholder interviews, a national survey, and co-design workshops, I will describe the current state of decision-making in pediatric nephrology care, characterizing the extent of clinician-driven processes and the limited elicitation of patient and family values. I will then present what stakeholders prioritize—including triadic collaboration and quality-of-life considerations—and propose design principles for technologies that support shared situational awareness across the patient-caregiver-clinician triad. This work offers a framework for designing collaborative decision-making tools applicable to pediatric chronic care and beyond.
Speaker Bio: Ari Pollack is a pediatric nephrologist and clinical informaticist at Seattle Children’s Hospital and the University of Washington, where he directs the Pediatric Nephrology Fellowship Program and leads the Health Informatics and Visual Experience (HIVE) Lab. He holds appointments in the Department of Pediatrics, the Department of Biomedical Informatics and Medical Education, and the Information School. His research focuses on supporting clinical decision-making for both patients and clinicians, using participatory design and mixed-methods approaches to develop tools that facilitate collaborative healthcare decisions. He is board certified in both pediatric nephrology and clinical informatics.