[BCHI Roster]

The Biomedical Computing and Health Informatics Scientific Review Group reviews grant applications involving both basic research and applications of computational science to knowledge and information in biomedicine, healthcare and their integration. The focus is on the development and application of computational modeling and computational sciences to biomedical and clinical problems.  This includes methods and techniques from such disciplines as software engineering, telemedicine, human-computer interaction, advanced computing architectures, and clinical database development, maintenance, and mining. This scientific review group reviews all grant mechanisms, including SBIR and STTR.

Specific areas covered by BCHI:

• Application of modeling methods to various levels of normal and pathophysiological processes.
  
  
• Application and development of human-centered computing (human-machine interfaces) to biomedical and clinical systems, including the application of social sciences, cognitive sciences, ergonomics and the study of collaboration to engineer-usable effective software systems.
  
  
• Application of intelligent systems to biomedical and clinical problems.
  
  
• Mathematical modeling of physiological functions/systems, where the outcome is of medical/clinical import.
  
  
• Application of data analysis, management and mining to areas and: electronic medical records, picture archiving, tele-imaging, consumer informatics, and population-based databases.
  
  
•  Development of medical and biomedical knowledge and information-management systems, including ontologies and controlled vocabularies.
  
  
• Application of clinical and biomedical software engineering, including validation of software in clinical settings.
  
  
• Development of telemedicine systems.
  
  
• Development of computer-assisted diagnosis and treatment systems with data other than imaging data.
  
  
• Integration of genomics and proteomics information with clinical information.
  
  
• Application of advanced computing architectures to questions in biomedical and clinical information and knowledge management.
  
  
• Application of virtual environments to the solution of biomedical and clinical problems.
  
  
• Development and dissemination of standards in biomedical computing and health informatics.
  
  
• Development and application of evaluation and validation techniques for biomedical and health informatics systems and applications.

BCHI has the following shared interests within the SBIB IRG:

• With Biomedical Imaging Technology [BMIT] and Small Business Biomedical Imaging [SBMI]: In general, grant applications that focus on specific methods, techniques or validation of medical and biomedical imaging questions would be referred to BMIT or SBMI; if the focus is on informatics, it would be referred to BCHI.
  
  
• With Bioengineering, Technology and Surgical Sciences [BTSS] and Small Business Biomedical Sensing, Measurement and Instrumentation [SSMI]: In general, grant applications that develop or use informatics in the context of developing medical devices and instrumentation would be referred to BTSS or SSMI; if the focus is on informatics, it would be referred to BCHI.

BCHI has the following shared interests outside the SBIB IRG:

• With the Bioengineering Sciences and Technologies [BST] IRG: In general, the development of mathematical models would be referred to BST; if the purpose of the model is to inform medical decision making the application would be referred to BCHI.
  
  
• With the Bioengineering Sciences and Technologies [BST] IRG, the Biobehavioral and Behavioral Processes [BBBP] IRG, the Brain Disorders and Clinical Neuroscience [BDCN], the Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Neuroscience [MDCN] IRG, and the Integrative, Functional, and Cognitive Neuroscience [IFCN] IRG: Grant applications that focus on computational neuroscience should be referred to BST, BBBP, BDCN, MDCN, or IFCN rather than to BCHI.
  
  
• With organ-system and disease IRGs: Applications in which informatics is used as a tool in the biomedical discovery process, or to support clinical studies, would be assigned to the scientific review group dealing with the particular biomedical or clinical topic.  If the focus of the application is on informatics, but uses a biomedical discovery, process, or clinical question to demonstrate and/or validate the informatics approach, it would be referred to BCHI.