Medical Bioinformatics

computer

Welcome to Medical Bioinformatics

Medical Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary field that brings together computer sciences, the medical sciences and health care, to achieve better health for Canadians.

What is Medical Bioinformatics?

Medical Bioinformatics is the use of computational methods to solve problems in biomedical sciences. High-throughput technologies that rapidly generate enormous amounts of data (e.g., next-generation sequencing platforms), which were once considered "cutting edge", are now essential tools in modern biomedical and clinical laboratories. This module provides students with the necessary foundation in computing, statistics and medical sciences, followed by a series of unique courses in Medical Bioinformatics with an emphasis on practical skill development.

Medical Bioinformatics is...

Medical Bioinformatics (MBI) is an interdisciplinary field that exists at the convergence of medical sciences, computing, and statistics. Bioinformatics was born from the necessity of integrating and analyzing the unprecedented amount of sequence data generated by the laboratories contributing to the Human Genome Project.

As laboratory technologies continue to rapidly grow more powerful, researchers in the medical sciences are overwhelmed by the volume and complexity of their own data. Western’s unique MBI program enables students to develop essential skills in computing and statistics in the context of solving problems in the medical sciences.

Honours Specialization in Medical Bioinformatics

Students combine foundational courses in both the medical sciences (biochemistry, pathology and physiology), computer sciences (coding essentials, databases and AI), and mathematical statistics (matrix algebra, probability, and Bayesian inference). Next, students complete a core curriculum of a third-year introduction to medical bioinformatics, and two fourth-year courses in genomics, epigenomics, or infectious disease bioinformatics. Enrolment in the module is limited and leads to a Bachelor of Medical Sciences (BMSc) degree.

Courses

Priority Information is on BMSc Website: Click Here

Medical Bioinformatics 3100A – Introduction to Medical Bioinformatics

General topics in medical bioinformatics, including public databases, bioinformatic data formats, sequence comparison and alignment, and next-generation sequence processing (mapping, de novo assembly). Labs introduce the command line interface, working within the Linux filesystem, and basic concepts in utilizing open source assets, batch processing and the implementation of bioinformatic workflows.

Antirequisite(s): Computer Science 4461A/B.
Prerequisite(s): Biology 2581A/B; one of Biology 2244A/B, Statistical Sciences 2244A/B or Statistical Sciences 2858A/B.
Extra Information: 2 lecture hours, 2 laboratory hours per week. This course does not require any prior experience with computer programming.
Course Weight: 0.50
Term: Fall Term
Wait list option available.

Medical Bioinformatics 4650F – Computational Methods for Epigenome Analysis

Bioinformatic methods for processing, analyzing, and integrating epigenomic data, the additional gene regulatory information beyond gene sequences. Students are introduced to best practices for quality control, regression analyses, differential analysis, and methods for functional enrichment. Data analysis will primarily use the R statistical programming language.

Prerequisite(s): Biology 2581A/B; one of Biology 2244A/B, Statistical Sciences 2244A/B, Statistical Sciences 2858A/B; and registration in Year 4 of a BMSc, BHSc, or BSc degree.
Extra Information: 2 lecture hours, 2 laboratory hours per week.
Course Weight: 0.50
Term: Fall Term
Wait list option available.

Medical Bioinformatics 4750G – Bioinformatics of Infectious Disease

An overview of concepts and applications of techniques in bioinformatics for the study and clinical/public health management of infectious diseases. Students are introduced to the basic analysis of conventional and next-generation sequence data, principles of maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference, reconstructing epidemic and evolutionary histories, detecting adaptation, and molecular epidemiology.

Antirequisite(s): Microbiology and Immunology 4750F/G.
Prerequisite(s): Biology 2581A/B; and one of Biology 2244A/B, Statistical Sciences 2244A/B or Statistical Sciences 2858A/B.
Pre-or Corequisite(s): One of Medical Bioinformatics 3100A/B, Medical Sciences 3391A/B or Microbiology and Immunology 2500A/B is recommended but not required.
Extra Information: 2 lecture hours, 2 laboratory hours. Cross-listed with Microbiology and Immunology 4750F/G.
Course Weight: 0.50
Term: Winter Term
Wait list option available.

Medical Bioinformatics 4850G – Genomic Data Analysis

Basics of data analysis and visualization using the R statistical programming language with a main focus on next generation sequencing (NGS) data. Topics include: fundamentals of NGS technologies; data formats and structures of sequencing data; effective analysis of different types of sequencing data (RNAseq, ATAC-seq and ChIP-seq) using R. Antirequisite: the former Medical Health Informatics 4850G.

BLENDED COURSE: Both Online and In-Person Instruction.

Medical Health Informatics 4985E – Applied Research in Medical Bioinformatics

A major research project in medical bioinformatics emphasizing study design, data collection and analyses, and interpretation of results. Students select a data analysis project from a list provided by the department and are matched with a computational supervisor to perform applied bioinformatics research.

RESTRICTED TO YEAR 4 HONS SPECIALIZATION IN MEDICAL BIOINFORMATICS.

Antirequisite(s): Anatomy and Cell Biology 4985E, Biochemistry 4484E, Biochemistry 4985E, Epidemiology and Biostatistics 4900E, Epidemiology and Biostatistics 4985E, Medical Biophysics 4985E, Medical Sciences 4990E, Microbiology and Immunology 4985E, One Health 4985E, Pathology 4985E, Physiology and Pharmacology 4985E, the former Anatomy and Cell Biology 4480E, the former Biochemistry 4483E, the former Chemical Biology 4500E, the former Medical Bioinformatics 4980E, the former Medical Biophysics 4970E, the former Medical Biophysics 4971E, the former Microbiology and Immunology 4970E, the former One Health 4980E, the former Pathology 4980E, the former Physiology and Pharmacology 4980E.

Prerequisite(s): Medical Bioinformatics 3100A/B; and registration in Year 4 of the Honours Specialization in Medical Bioinformatics. Corequisite(s): Medical Bioinformatics 4986Y.
Extra Information: 15 hours / week
Course Weight: 1.00
Term: Full Term

Medical Health Informatics 4986Y – Research Skills in Medical Bioinformatics

This course explores the foundations of investigative research in Medical Bioinformatics, with emphasis on research integrity and responsible conduct, research methodology, emerging methods, and critical evaluation of scientific literature. Students will develop proficiency in communicating findings through academic formats, while fostering skills required for responsible research in Medical Bioinformatics.