Master's degree in Medical Bioinformatics

Overview

Course details

Duration

2 years

Degree class

LM-18 - Classe delle lauree magistrali in Informatica

Supervisory body

Collegio Didattico di Informatica

Programme Director

Rosalba Giugno

Information

Amministrazione Collegi del Dipartimento di Informatica

Type

Postgraduate and Master's programmes

Teaching and course administration

Operational unit

Location

VERONA

Learning outcomes

The Master’s degree in Medical Bioinformatics prepares graduates for a career at management and supervisory level in the design, development, maintenance and management of information systems in medicine, biology and healthcare.

In particular, this programme will equip graduates with specific skills in the following areas: complex biomedical software in the field of scientific and technological innovation for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes; complex information systems for the management of clinical and bioinformatics databases; software for processing medical and biological data in clinical decision support systems; health information systems with heterogeneous and complex architectures; visual interfaces for bioinformatics.

This programme, which is taught entirely in English, provides the theoretical, methodological and technological multi- and inter-disciplinary foundations needed to address problems related to the design, analysis and development of complex intelligent systems in the field of bioinformatics and medical informatics.

Upon completion of the programme, graduates will be expected to:
- have gained theoretical, methodological, experimental and applicative knowledge and skills in the fundamental areas of informatics, with particular reference to the application domains of biology and medicine;
- have gained knowledge of techniques and methods of data and process design for the production of informatics systems in bioinformatics-genomics and medical fields;
- have gained knowledge of information systems, processing systems and methods for managing and mining bioinformatics and medical data;
- have gained knowledge of the main software platforms, sequencing techniques, publicly available bioinformatics databases and standards used for data representation and communication;
- be able to design, implement and integrate software modules for problems typical of genome analysis and the structuring of web services oriented to the management of biological and clinical data;
- be able to identify the appropriate components and tools in tackling complex problems in bioinformatics and medical informatics where interdisciplinary skills are required.

Given the international nature of the scientific, technical and economic context of information science and its applications in medicine and healthcare, the programme is taught entirely in English.

In line with the learning objectives above, the programme is organised in such a way as to deepen the theoretical, methodological and technological aspects of the IT disciplines with regard to their applications in the biological and medical fields, and to provide graduates with the biological and medical knowledge required to deal with these complex application domains with awareness.

The programme, in line with the learning objectives outlined above, is organised in such a way as to deepen the theoretical, methodological and technological aspects of computer science disciplines with regard to their applications in the biological and medical fields, and to provide graduates with appropriate biological and medical knowledge in order to deal with these complex application domains with awareness.
To this end, the first year of the programme includes core modules, which provide students with the fundamental and transversal skills needed to address specialised applications in the biomedical field. The first year also includes modules aimed at providing students with a thorough understanding of the biological and medical knowledge necessary for Master’s graduates in the Bioinformatics and the Medical Informatics fields.

During their second year, students will be able to deepen their knowledge and skills in the area of Bioinformatics and Medical Informatics through specific modules in computer science focused on the following key areas: architectures for processing biological data, genomic sequence analysis and natural computing models, and health information systems, data analysis techniques to support clinical decision-making and biomedical image processing. The programme also includes modules at the student’s choice and further training activities such as language modules and internships.

The final dissertation, involving independent study of a topic chosen by the student (a work of research, formalisation, design or development), is the culmination of the degree programme.

Career prospects

Graduates in Medical Bioinformatics are IT professionals specialised in processing (representation, processing, analysis, visualisation, archiving and communication) of large amounts of data (structured, semi-structured and unstructured data), thus acting as Data Scientists in order to deploy and use advanced IT techniques and tools in the fields of biology, medicine and health. Our graduates contribute to broaden scientific knowledge by conducting research and experiments in the fields of information sciences and telematics applied to medicine and biology.
 
Graduates – who will be able to apply and make available this knowledge for clinical, health, biomedical and bioinformatics scientific research activities – may find employment opportunities in a range of work contexts, as follows: computer manufacturing companies and software houses specialised in the production of software and hardware for bioinformatics or medical-clinical applications; hospitals and health agencies/organisations; pharmaceutical companies; research institutions - public and private - and genomic and health services; as self-employed professionals and in public departments.
 
Graduate’s role in a working environment: graduates in Medical Bioinformatics will be able to enter management and supervisory positions in the design, development, management and maintenance of information systems in medicine, biology and health systems, with particular regard to:

• design of complex biomedical software oriented to scientific and technological innovation for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes;
• design of complex computer systems for the management of clinical and bioinformatics databases;
• design of systems for the processing of medical and biological data in clinical decision support systems;
• management of health information systems with heterogeneous and complex architectures;
• design of systems and visual interfaces for bioinformatics.

 
Graduate’s skills: while performing their tasks, graduates in Medical Bioinformatics will be able to address computer problems in the biomedical field from a managerial point of view, to coordinate teams and to define innovative approaches. The expected skills are therefore relevant to the following areas:

• theoretical, methodological, experimental and applicative skills in the fundamental areas of information technology, particularly regarding bioinformatics activities of biomedical laboratories, clinical and organisational activities in healthcare;
• ability to address and analyse complex problems in the biological, medical and healthcare fields and coordinate the development of computer systems for their solution;
• knowledge of investigation methodologies and ability to apply them in concrete situations, leading teams in projects that require expertise in medical computing and bioinformatics;
• appropriate biomedical knowledge to integrate their IT skills.

 
Career prospects: graduates may find employment opportunities in a range of work contexts, as follows: computer manufacturing companies and software houses specialised in the production of software and hardware for bioinformatics or medical-clinical applications; hospitals and health agencies/organisations; pharmaceutical companies; research institutions - public and private - and genomic and health services; as self-employed professionals and in public departments.
 
Specifically, graduates will be expected to be able to:

• carry out development tasks in the field of scientific and technological innovation for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes;
• design, organise, manage and maintain complex medical information systems for the management of clinical or bioinformatics databases, for the processing of medical and bioinformatics data in clinical decision support systems, both in health information systems and in hospital centres;
• provide organisational, clinical and scientific support for both inter and intra-hospital activities, both in bioinformatics research labs and in information technology companies operating in the medical sector;  
• provide teaching activities in schools of different types and levels, upon completion of the relevant teacher training courses.

 
Graduates in Medical Bioinformatics are typically open-minded about where to find their best job opportunities, in Italy or abroad. Given the Italian and international contexts, the skills acquired in a master's degree of this kind will enable graduates to apply for positions in IT companies operating in the medical sector, as well as hospitals and research laboratories, in bioinformatics and medicine to support clinical and scientific activities of single units or departments.
 
 

Main Department

Computer Science

Macro area

Sciences and Engineering

Subject area

Sciences and Engineering