About the Division 

The Division of Translational Biomedical Informatics (TBI), led by Benjamin Goldstein, PhD, FACMI, serves as the academic home for health data science and biomedical informatics researchers at Duke University.  Biomedical informatics is a multidisciplinary field that studies how we organize, analyze, interpret and disseminate health data and information. Through the Division’s home in the School of Medicine, and via partnership with the Duke University Health System, faculty’s work is particularly focused on how we translate research and analytics to improve health and patient outcomes. The division is currently comprised of 18 primary faculty and 16 secondary faculty, with affiliations in 14 School of Medicine and University departments.

Research & Interests

Division faculty are involved in collaborative and multidisciplinary health data science research that ranges from theoretical to applied. Faculty have led and contributed to grants from government (e.g., NIH, NSF, FDA, CDC, DOD, PCORI, BARDA), medical societies and industry sponsors. They have developed tools and algorithms that have been implemented at Duke Health and made available to the broader health community.

Faculty research and expertise covers predictive modelling/clinical decision support, machine learning/artificial intelligence, secondary use of electronic health records data, methods for imaging and natural language processing, wearable and bio-signal data analysis, and data governance. Application areas include mental health, critical care, children’s health, women’s health, cardiology, metabolic health and infectious disease, and cancer.

Institutional and External Engagement

Division faculty are highly engaged with Duke’s School of Medicine, University, and Health System, as well as national, and international activities and organizations. Faculty:

  • Hold primary and secondary appointments within the Departments of Medicine, Surgery, Population Health, Anesthesiology, Pediatrics, Radiology, Family Medicine and Community Health, Biomedical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Material Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Computer Science, Statistical Sciences, and Mathematics;
  • Hold senior leadership positions at the School of Medicine level, including Vice Deans and Department Chairs; 
  • Maintain affiliations and leadership roles with Duke AI Health, Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI), Duke Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), Duke Cancer Institute (DCI), Duke Global Health Institute (DGHI), Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy, Duke Initiative for Science & Society, Duke Institute for Brain Science, Duke Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, Duke Center for Statistical Genetics and Genomics, Duke Autism Center, Biostatistics  Epidemiology and Research Design (BERD) Methods Core, and Duke-National University of Singapore;
  • Provide leadership within the Duke University Health System (DUHS) and Duke Health Technology Solutions (DHTS) supporting strategy and governance related to Clinical Data, Health AI and Learning Health Analytics;
  • Teach, mentor and lead in the Department’s Masters of Biostatistics, Masters of Medical and Clinical Informatics and PhD educational programs;
  • Are fellows and leaders for the American Medical Informatics Association, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, International Academy of Health Sciences Informatics, NC Department of Health and Human Services, and Coalition for Health AI.