Mission
At its core, bioinformatics is the application of tools of computation and analysis to the capture and interpretation of biological data. It grew out of the human genome project with the need for computational tools to assemble and analyze whole genome sequences. In the four decades since the project to sequence the human genome was announced, the fields of bioinformatics and computational biology have expanded exponentially to cover many types of “big data” including not only genomic and transcriptomic data, but also proteins, lipids, metabolites, and the use of those data in personalized medicine. Bioinformatics is central to environmental microbiology and ecology, plant biology, synthetic biology and pharmacology to name just a few.
The SLU Master’s program in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology brings together expertise from within the Departments of Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, and Mathematics & Statistics from SLU’s College of Arts & Sciences, and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in SLU’s School of Medicine.
Our academic programs prepare students with the fundamentals of computation and analysis of big data sets, and the use of computational methods to model and solve problems involving complex biological systems. Current students are exposed to research and industry experiences, and graduates of our program are well prepared for careers in biotechnology and related fields, or for further research in doctoral programs.
Diversity and Inclusion
As an institution, Saint Louis University has a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion. Within our program, we echo those goals while recognizing the particular need to broaden participation in our classes and in the fields of bioinformatics and computational biology in general. We recognize not only the imperative of valuing diversity and inclusiveness, but that all members of our community (faculty, staff, and students) must be active participants in supporting and advocating for these goals.
The challenges in building and supporting diversity in fields related to bioinformatics and computational biology are similar to those challenges faced by all STEM disciplines. While there has been strong progress in recent years (both locally and nationally), there is certainly need for much greater progress in the future. Our goal of inclusiveness takes many forms:
- We strive for academic diversity as we see bioinformatics providing value and empowerment to students in ours as well as other graduate programs. Our introductory bioinformatics series is open to students across the university and we have had senior undergraduate and graduate students enrolled from biology, bioengineering, chemistry and biostatistics. Our program is by its nature, interdisciplinary, so many of our students have completed internships across disciplines.
- We strive for demographic diversity in our student body, our faculty, and the field of computational biology in general. This includes diversity of gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and identity, and socioeconomic background. We actively recruit under-represented minority students. We offer scholarships for academically talented students with demonstrated financial need via our Bioinformatics Training with Industry Support and Engagement (BITWISE) project. This is funded through the generous support of the National Science Foundation’s S-STEM Scholarship program and will provide up to $10000 per year to while pursuing the standalone M.S. program or the accelerated bachelor’s/master’s curriculum.
- We strive for inclusiveness in terms of ability and disability. We recognize that bioinformaticians and computational biologists an contribute to the development of technologies that can enhance the health and well-being of all individuals.