Center for Advanced Information Management

 In 1983, New York State established a Center for Advanced Technology (CAT) Program to promote the collaboration between its industry base and its major research institutions. The goal was to facilitate technology transfer and commercialization using the expertise and resources in academia to benefit companies economically. 

 Currently, the program continues with 15 CATs at 13 institutions located around the state. Each CAT has a specific technology focus (http://www.nystar.state.ny.us/cats.htm) and approach to helping its partner companies. The CAT program is supported by NYSTAR, the New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation. NYSTAR currently offers a range of programs to help promote the state’s technology base.

 Columbia University’s Center for Advanced Information Management has been a participant in the CAT program since its inception. CAIM’s focus is at the intersection of biomedical science, information technology, and biomedical imaging, with the occasional inclusion of other areas of biomedicine and information processing. Its main contributing units are the Department of Biomedical Informatics and the Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, both at the medical center (College of Physicians and Surgeons), and the Computer Science Department and imaging group of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, both in the School of Engineering and Applied Science. This broad range of expertise serves CAIM well in allowing for innovative interdisciplinary projects involving specialists from both schools and campuses.

 A few of CAIM’s industry-focused activities and offerings are –

• Grant program for industry co-sponsored research projects
• Specialized workforce training courses and seminars
• Faculty consulting service, intended mainly for small companies   
• Affiliates program providing company access to various and flexible benefits
• Technology Forums featuring informative programs focusing on areas of industry interest
• External Advisory Board with members from a wide range of companies  
• Access to other NYSTAR development programs (funding, technology/legal services, etc.)

 For more information, visit www.cat.columbia.edu or call 212.305.2944.

Department of Biomedical Informatics

The Columbia University Department of Biomedical Informatics is among the oldest in the nation. Its goals are to discover new information methods, to augment the biomedical knowledge base, and to improve the health of the population. DBMI’s 30 faculty members and 60 students work in a highly collaborative environment, applying informatics from the atomic level to global populations. Areas of application include:

• CLINICAL CARE. Design clinical information systems and mine the electronic health record.
• BIOLOGY. Includes systems biology, structural biology, and virology, on studies in partnership with the Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics.
• PUBLIC HEALTH. Design systems to promote and protect the health of communities, improve public health systems, and deploy information technology internationally.
• TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH. Integrate biological and clinical knowledge and facilitate multidisciplinary science.

Pfizer Incorporated

Pfizer applies science and its global resources to improve health and well-being at every stage of life. It strives to set the standard for quality, safety and value in the discovery, development and manufacturing of medicines for people and animals. Pfizer’s diversified global health care portfolio includes human and animal biologic and small molecule medicines and vaccines, as well as nutritional products and many of the world's best-known consumer products.

Pfizer colleagues work across developed and emerging markets to advance wellness, prevention, treatments and cures that challenge the most feared diseases of our time. Consistent with its responsibility as the world's leading biopharmaceutical company, Pfizer also collaborates with health care providers, governments and local communities to support and expand access to reliable, affordable health care around the world. For more than 150 years, Pfizer has worked to make a difference for all who rely on it. To learn more, please visit www.pfizer.com.

Pfizer has co-sponsored the medical informatics update since its inception.