- Lebanese National Council for Scientific Research
- Philips Middle East
- Arab Computer Society
- Software Design
Background and Objectives
This Summer School will offer a one-week intensive course, given by world-class experts, on the foundations of Biomedical Informatics and some research directions in this area. Biomedical Informatics is the study of information and computation in biology and health. It focuses on studying and managing information and behavior that is related to decisions in order to develop computational methods and use them to generate knowledge. This scientific area is multidisciplinary and involves knowledge and techniques from Computer Science and Information Technology (IT), Computer and Electrical Engineering, Biology, and Medicine. Biomedical Informatics covers computational techniques and information technologies that can be used for applications such as medical diagnosis, clinical decision making, personalized medicine, molecular biology, and health care systems. Progress in this field will lead to improvement in the quality of medical treatment and health services.
Expertise in the field of Biomedical Informatics is lacking in Lebanon and the region in terms of university teaching, research, IT development, and health care services and management. This Summer School intends to be a step towards filling this gap. It is intended to be a capacity building activity targeting both academicians and senior IT professionals.
The objectives of this summer school are:
- To build teaching capacity in the field of Biomedical Informatics.
- To build research capacity in Biomedical Informatics.
- To facilitate forming Biomedical Informatics research groups, locally and regionally, with possible international collaboration.
- To encourage cross-disciplinary Biomedical Informatics research in university graduate programs.
- To build capacity in professional IT organizations.
- To pave the way for technology and knowledge transfer into health care institutions.
Course Outline and Lecturers
Tentative subjects are as follows:
| Sub-area |
Lecturer |
Medicine for scientists and engineers a brief survey of healthcare
- Language of Medicine
- The Clinical Process
- Healthcare Systems
- Medical Records
- Procedural Medicine/Surgical Practice
- Evidence Based Medicine/Medical Decision Making
- Quality Improvement/Patient Safety
- Biomedical Research: Basic/Clinical/Translational
- Medical Imaging Informatics
|
Dr. Bruce Bray,
Professor of Biomedical Informatics,
School of Medicine,
University of Utah
|
Clinical informatics
- Medical decision making: Rising volumes of data and information; What information do clinicians need? Clinical decision support systems
- Clinical computing systems: Foundational; Departmental; Electronic medical record systems; Research systems
- Implementing and operating clinical computing systems: Architecture of hospital information systems; The art and science of implementation; The critical value of skillful day-to-day operations
- Is there evidence clinical computing does more good than harm?
- What does the future hold for clinical informatics? Natural language processing; Improved interface and match to human workflow; Building on EMR infrastructure; Health information exchange; Global examples of HIT excellence
|
Dr. Thomas Payne
Medical Director, IT Services
School of Medicine,
University of Washington
|
| Computing for Translational Science and Personalized Medicine
We will conduct case studies of translating recent genetic and bimolecular discoveries tests, data and information to the practice of personalized medicine. Participants will be introduced to technology infrastructure, biomedical informatics methods, and processes and tools designed to produce precise, preventive and personalized healthcare information. Academics, researchers, graduate students and professionals will learn how computer science and engineering is rapidly transforming health care by the use of the patient’s genetic and molecular data. In addition, health care providers, hospital administrators, and health care policy officials attending the program will be introduced to the underlying principles of personalized medicine and the biomedical science and informatics critical to its’ success. Lectures, hands on demonstrations and evening discussions will cover:
- Introduction to Personalized Medicine
- Creating a biomedical informatics infrastructure for translational science
- Methods of biomedical informatics for Translational Science
- Raw data to Clinical Knowledge: What does biomedical informatics deliver to physicians
- Diagnostics, Prognosis and Treatment in Personalized Medicine
|
Dr. Peter Tonellato,
Director of the Laboratory for Personalized Medicine in the Center for Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School,
Harvard University
|
Computational biology and bioinformatics
The sequencing and deep resequencing of complete genomes has created an unprecedented deluge of data that needs to be analyzed, annotated, catalogued, parsed, deciphered, and stored. Bioinformatics is playing a crucial role in the search, analysis, and the storage of the biomolecular sequence and structure data. After a brief introduction to molecular biology, the course gives an overview of bioinformatics and computational biology.
Topics surveyed include: the analysis of macromolecular sequences (search, alignment), databases, genetic linkage and association including genome-wide association studies, phylogenetics, and RNA structure prediction, gene expression arrays, and next-generation sequencing.
The classes will demonstrate visualization packages for bioinformatics algorithms. The hands-on exercises using online publicly available tools will enhance the understanding of the common bioinformatics tasks. Participants can access http://www.cs.sjsu.edu/faculty/khuri/LAU_2010/ for notes, esercises, etc… before the lectures.
|
Dr. Sami Khuri,
Professor of Computer Science,
San José State University
|
Detailed Schedule
|
Mon. July 5
|
|
Thurs. July 8
|
|
|
8:45
|
Clinical Informatics I
Dr. Thomas Payne
|
8:30
|
Comp for Trans Sc. & Pers Medicine III
Lecture: Predicting Personalized Medicine
|
|
10:30
|
Coffee break
|
10:30
|
Coffee break
|
|
11:00
|
Clinical Informatics II
|
11:00
|
Computing for Translational
Sc. & Personalized Medicine IV
Session 2: Demo: Clinical Avatar App
Exercises 1-3.
|
|
13:00
|
Lunch
|
13:00
|
Lunch
|
|
14:00
|
Clinical Informatics III
|
14:00
|
Computing for Translational
Sc. & Personalized Medicine V
Lecture: Open Issues in Pers. Medicine
Session 3: Demo: i2b2 Database & Clinical Avatars
|
|
15:00
|
Formal Opening Session
|
|
|
|
15:45
|
Coffee break
|
16:00
|
Coffee break
|
|
16:00 – 18:00
|
Clinical Informatics IV
|
16:30
|
Computing for Translational
Sc. & Personalized Medicine VI
Lecture: Final Thoughts and Q&A
|
|
|
|
18:30 – 19:30
|
Coffee-Shop Discussion
|
|
Tues. July 6
|
|
Fri. July 9
|
|
|
8:30
|
Clinical Informatics V
|
8:30
|
Computational Biology &
Bioinformatics I
Dr. Sami Khuri
|
|
10:30
|
Coffee break
|
10:30
|
Coffee break
|
|
11:00
|
Clinical Informatics VI
|
11:00
|
Computational Biology &
Bioinformatics II
|
|
13:00
|
Lunch
|
13:00
|
Lunch
|
|
14:00
|
Medicine for Scientists
& Engineers I
Dr. Bruce Bray
|
14:00
|
Computational Biology &
Bioinformatics III
|
|
15:30
|
Coffee break
|
15:30
|
Coffee break
|
|
16:00- 18:00
|
Medicine for Scientists
& Engineers II
|
16:00 – 18:00
|
Computational Biology &
Bioinformatics IV
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wedn. July 7
|
|
Sat. July 10
|
|
|
8:30
|
Medicine for Scientists
& Engineers III
|
8:30
|
Computational Biology and Bioinformatics V
|
|
10:30
|
Coffee break
|
10:30
|
Coffee break
|
|
11:00
|
Medicine for Scientists
& Engineers IV
|
11:00
|
Computational Biology and Bioinformatics VI
|
|
13:00
|
Lunch
|
13:00
|
Lunch
|
|
14:00
|
Computing for Translational
Sc. & Personalized Medicine I
Lecture: ‘Introduction to Trans Medicine’
Hand outs, discuss demos and exercises
Dr. Peter Tonellato
|
14:00
|
Computational Biology and Bioinformatics VII
|
|
16:00
|
Coffee break
|
15:30
|
Coffee break
|
|
16:30
|
Computing for Translational
Sc. & Personalized Medicine II
Lecture: ‘Genome Reduction’
Session 1: Demo: Identifying Genetic Variation Exercises 1 and 2.
|
15:45 - 17:30
|
Computational Biology and
Bioinformatics VIII
|
|
18:30 – 19:30
|
Coffee-Shop Discussion
|
|
|
Who Should Attend
Expected participants are: university academics, researchers, graduate students, and professionals from IT and health organizations, all with appropriate computing background.
Certificate
A certificate of attendance will be provided.
Dates, Time and Place
Dates: July 5 - 10, 2010
Time: 8:30 AM - 6:00 PM
Place: LAU, Beirut Campus
Registration, Fees and Deadlines
To register, please fill out the registration
form below or email the requested information to: si@lau.edu.lb
by April 30.
Registration fees are $750 per person (includes lunch, coffee breaks, and handouts).
Payment from outside or inside Lebanon should be made by making a BANK TRANSFER to LAU’s account (please include your name and ‘summer school BMI’ in the transfer form):
HSBC Bank Middle East
Ras Beirut Branch
LAU A/C# 003-024395-100
Swift Code: BBMELBBX
IBAN # LB42000700000000003024395100
Payment inside Lebanon can be made directly at LAU, Beirut, Business Office, Irwin Hall, Ground floor (Regular opening hours are 9:00 AM - 12:00 Noon and 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM).
Special registration grants are available on need basis. The number of these grants is limited and will depend on sponsors donations. Those who feel that they qualify for a registration grant are asked to send their request and justification by email to si@lau.edu.lb.
The deadline for registration and receiving payments is April 30, or until the class is full (limited places).
Accommodation
We will arrange for accommodation in nearby hotels at reasonable prices. Details will be announced later.
Visa
Citizens of many countries can get a visa at the
Beirut International Airport. After you register, if you need our help
to get a visa from the Lebanese Embassy in your country, please let
us know at si@lau.edu.lb and fax
us a copy of your passport to +961 1 867098 (Attention Dr. Nashat Mansour).
About Lebanon
You may find more information on Lebanon in the following
websites:
General Information
Weather and Dress
The weather in Julyis warm and ideal for the beach. You
can find more information about the weather in the sites listed at ”About
Lebanon.”
Currency and Credit Cards
In Lebanon, you can use lebanese currency or U.S. Dollars. Currency
exchange can be freely made at banks or at small exchange shops (many
of them in Beirut). Please note that credit cards are not as commonly
used in Lebanon as in the U.S. and Europe. They are accepted mostly
at large establishments.
Language
Arabic is Lebanon’s official language. But many Lebanese people
also speak English and French.
Contact us at: si@lau.edu.lb
