Welcome to the PhD Program in Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics






Welcome to the PhD Program in Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics
















Image courtesy:
National Human Genome Research Institute


Welcome to BIG

 

The rapid advances in genome technologies and the bioinformatics challenges in interpreting massive amounts of data have created amazing opportunities for young researchers. The BIG program offers an interdisciplinary PhD training aimed at producing leading researchers in these areas. Most of our students come with a very strong background in a quantitative field as well as a significant experience in molecular biology and genetics.


The BIG program is administered by the Department of Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School, located in Boston, Massachusetts. The students have a substantial flexibility in choosing their advisors--they can choose practically any faculty members who have a primary appointment at Harvard, in addition to the core faculty members listed on this site. Our core faculty is unparalleled in its record high-quality research in many areas of genomics and bioinformatics, both in basic science and translational research.


We believe that the students need to be experts not only in computational analysis but also have broad background in the biological sciences and expertise in an area of application, whether that is a basic biological phenomenon or a disease area. The students therefore take courses in genetics and molecular biology as well as a biological literature reading course, with graduate students in other programs at the medical school. For those interested in advanced quantitative courses, there are numerous courses at nearby institutions, e.g., Bayesian statistics at Harvard School of Public Health, machine learning at the Harvard main campus, or signal processing at MIT (10 minutes to MIT and 20 minutes to the main campus by a shuttle bus).


The Longwood Medical Area in Boston is one of the premiere medical research hubs in the world, and Harvard Medical School and its numerous affiliated hospitals offer a multitude of seminars each week. Boston has also become a center of biotech companies including many start-ups in recent years. So come join us for an opportunity to tackle an important problem in biomedical sciences, in the company of wonderful classmates and faculty!

 

Peter Park, PhD

BIG Program Director

News & Events

 

BIG Program Welcomes
2020-2021 Class

The 2020-2021 BIG Class

The Department of Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School welcomed new students into the Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics (BIG) PhD program.

 

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BIG Student Launches Podcast

Anika Gupta

BIG student Anika Gupta launches a new podcast: The Data Pulse

 

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BIG Student a Finalist at MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference

Qingbo Wang

BIG student Qingbo Wang participated in the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference (SSAC) hackathon on March 5th, and was selected as a finalist to present in the large conference room.

 

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BIG Alumni Honoree in Forbes "30 Under 30"

Dr Jean Fan

BIG alumni Dr. Jean Fan honored in the 2020 Forbes 30 under 30 Healthcare category.

 

 

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BIG Program Welcomes
2019-2020 Class

The 2019-2020 BIG Class

The Department of Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School welcomed new students into the Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics (BIG) PhD program.

 

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BIG students win 1st prize in Vivli and Microsoft Clinical Trial Datathon

Qingbo Wang and Gaurav Luthria

On June 21, 2019, BIG students Qingbo Wang and Gaurav Luthria participated in and won the Vivli Microsoft Data Challenge!

 

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BIG student wins runner up for the 2019 UK Biobank Early-Career Researcher of the Year Award

Yixuan He

 

 

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BIG alumni Adam Riesselman named 2019 Howes Scholar

Adam Riesselman

 

 

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Congratulations to 2019 BIG graduates!

2019 BIG grads

On Thursday, May 30, the Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics program celebrated the hooding of our PhD degree graduates.

 

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BIG student recent publication

Jake Conway

Jake Conway recently published Genomics of response to immune checkpoint therapies for cancer: implications for precision medicine.

 

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BIG student presents at American Society of Human Genetics meeting

At a presentation this week at the American Society of Human Genetics’ annual meeting, Harvard Medical School graduate student Jack Kosmicki and his colleagues shared a list of new genes that could play a role in the disorder.

 

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BIG students win NBA hackathon

On September 22nd, 2018, BIG students Surge Biswas and Amaro Taylor-Weiner participated and won the NBA hackathon!

 

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BIG program welcomes 2018-2019 class

This month the Department of Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School welcomed a cohort of ten students into the Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics (BIG) PhD program.

 

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Congratulations to BIG graduates!

On Thursday, May 24, the Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics program celebrated the hooding of our PhD degree graduates.

 

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BIG student essay featured in the 2017-2018 HMS Dean’s Report

"What is the promise of biomedicine to me?"

 

 

 

 

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BIG faculty featured in Harvard Magazine Precision Medicine article

Using precision medicine, Harvard researchers target cancer.

 

 

 

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BIG students present at UCLA

BIG trainees presented at the NHGRI Research Training and Career Development Annual Meeting, March 18-20, 2018.

 

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BIG student presentation in UK

BIG student Danielle Rasooly presented her talk "Heliocobacter pylori as a potential risk factor for Type 2 Diabetes" at the Mendelian Randomization Conference in Bristol, UK in July 2017.

 

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Regeneron Prize Finalist

Congratulations to BIG student Jean Fan, who was a honored as a finalist for the 2017 Regeneron Prize for Creative Innovation.

 

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cuSTEMized Kids

DBMI Students Apply Computational Skills for Outreach

 

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Monthly Entrepreneurial Meetup

Biomedical Informatics Entrepreneurs Salon (BIES), a monthly meeting to promote entrepreneurship at the convergence of biology, medicine, and computing.

 

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