University of Florida Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics: A Comprehensive Overview

The University of Florida (UF) boasts a distinguished Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics (HOBI), dedicated to improving health through data science, implementation science, and a focus on patient-centered research. This article provides a detailed overview of the department, its faculty, and their diverse areas of expertise.

UF Health Web Directory: A Centralized Information Hub

The UF Health Web Directory serves as a comprehensive resource for information on all UF Health-related personnel, irrespective of their location or affiliation. This directory offers powerful search capabilities and allows users to easily update and manage most of their profile information after logging in. The directory streamlines information dissemination across UF Health's digital platforms, including UFHealth.org, UF and UF Health HR systems, and Bridge profiles. This centralized system ensures that content is updated in one place and distributed across the entire UF Health digital presence, resulting in more accurate and consistent information.

Key Faculty and Their Research Focus

The Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics is home to a diverse group of faculty members, each with unique expertise and research interests. Here's a closer look at some of the key individuals and their contributions:

Elizabeth Shenkman, PhD

Dr. Elizabeth Shenkman is the Chair of the Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics, the Director for the Institute for Child Health Policy, and the Co-Director of the University of Florida Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI). As a health outcomes researcher, Dr. Shenkman focuses on identifying the combinations of healthcare delivery, community, and patient factors that influence the quality and outcomes of care. She also develops and tests evidence-based strategies to improve care delivery and health outcomes, particularly for children, adolescents, and women.

Dr. Shenkman leads the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)-funded OneFlorida+ Clinical Research Network, which includes 11 health system partners in Florida and other states. OneFlorida+ represents diverse healthcare settings and patient populations. A key feature of OneFlorida+ is its centralized Data Trust, containing HIPAA-limited linked healthcare claims, electronic health record, tumor registry, vital statistics, linked birth and death certificate data, census track, and national death data. This data serves as an important resource for cohort discovery, study feasibility determination, and augmenting primary data collection activities. Dr. Shenkman’s research is funded by PCORI, the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality, NIH, and the National Cancer Institute.

Jiang Bian, PhD

Dr. Bian is Professor and Associate Chair for Data Science, and Division Chief (Preeminent Scholar) of Biomedical Informatics and Data Science in the Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics at the University of Florida. He also serves as the Chief Data Scientist and Director of the Cancer Informatics Shared Resource for the UF Health Cancer Center, Co-Director of the UF CTSI Biomedical Informatics Program, as well as the Associate Director of the Office of Data Science Research for the OneFlorida+ Clinical Research Network.

Dr. Bian possesses a multi-disciplinary background in the analysis of real-world data, including electronic health records (EHRs) and administrative claims. His expertise includes randomized trial and observational study design, predictive modeling (statistical and machine learning), causal modeling, and patient-reported outcomes (PROs). Dr. Bian's research focuses on generating real-world evidence to support healthcare decision-making for disease prevention and control.

William M. Hogan, MD

Dr. Hogan is a Professor in the Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics and an expert in biomedical informatics.

François Modave, PhD

Dr. Modave is a Professor in the Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics and an expert in biomedical informatics.

Sonja A. Rasmussen, MD

Dr. Rasmussen is a Professor in the Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics and an expert in pediatrics and public health.

Catherine M. Striley, PhD

Dr. Striley is a Professor in the Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics and an expert in substance abuse and mental health research.

Matthew J. Gurka, PhD

Dr. Gurka is a Professor in the Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics and an expert in biostatistics.

Robert L. Cook, MD, MPH

Dr. Cook is a Professor in the Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics and an expert in epidemiology and clinical research.

Purushottam (Puru) Laud, PhD

Dr. Laud is a Professor in the Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics and an expert in biostatistics.

Michael E. Mannino, PhD

Dr. Mannino is a Professor in the Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics and an expert in database management and data mining.

Janice L. Krieger, PhD

Dr. Krieger is Professor and Associate Chair of Education in the Department of Health Outcomes & Biomedical Informatics (HOBI) and the Assistant Director of the Cancer Training and Education Program at the UF Health Cancer Center (UFHCC). As an implementation scientist, her research focuses on communication interventions for clinicians, patients, and caregivers. These interventions aim to improve implementation of evidence-based communication practices across the cancer continuum, including cancer clinical trial accrual, cancer treatment discussions, and HPV vaccination. Her research is supported by the National Institutes of Health and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. She has authored more than 200 peer-reviewed publications, co-edited two books with Oxford University Press on healthcare communication and co-edited the Wiley International Encyclopedia of Health Communication. She leads HOBI’s graduate education programs, ensuring that students are well-equipped to address pressing health-related research challenges and is dedicated to providing students with rigorous methodological training to help them achieve their research goals. She is Assistant Director of Education and Training Programs for the UFHCC, promoting educational and training programs, particularly as they relate to population sciences and community engagement.

Todd M. Manini, PhD

Dr. Manini is Professor; Division Chief of Clinical and Population Health Integration; Co-Director of the Claude D. Pepper Older American’s Independence Center (OAIC) and the Director of the T32 Translational Research on Aging and Mobility (TRAM - T32 AG062728) program. He also serves as the Co-Leader of the Data Science and Applied Technology Core of the UF OAIC. His career is dedicated to contributing knowledge on a gerontological understanding of mobility deficits during the aging process and impact resulting from health events in late-life. He has experience conducting both observational studies and clinical trials involving frail and low functioning older adults (minority and non-minority). He also leads an interdisciplinary team of investigators, staff and trainees. He currently leads both clinical trials and observational studies involving cognitive and physical impairments in older adults. In these studies, besides conducting rigorous science, he manages staff, oversees the finances, ensures regulatory compliance, monitors measurement standardization, and reports data and safety information for these programs. He involves trainees at all levels for them to gain an appreciation of not just the science methods, but the overall operations of managing a complex primary data collection research program. He also preaches rigorous data collection procedures and transparency throughout the scientific process. He has mentored or coached 42 men and women at various stages of their careers (post-doctoral fellows, pre-doctoral students and faculty).

Arwa A. Salloum, PhD

Dr. Salloum is a Professor, the Associate Chair for Research, and the Chief of the Division of Implementation Science and Health Interventions in the Department of Health Outcomes & Biomedical Informatics at the University of Florida College of Medicine. Salloum also serves as the Associate Director of Community Outreach and Engagement at the UF Health Cancer Center and the Director of the Learning Health System Program at the UF Clinical and Translational Science Institute. Dr. Salloum’s research focuses on the implementation and dissemination of evidence-based practices, especially in cancer prevention and control. He has a demonstrated research record in the area of health services research across health systems and policy settings, with a particular focus on the implementation of evidence-based programs. This work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, the Florida Department of Health, the International Development Research Centre, and Cancer Research UK. Dr. Salloum is well-versed in implementation science methods and frameworks and has served as faculty for the National Cancer Institute (NCI)’s Training Institute for Dissemination and Implementation Research in Cancer (TIDIRC).

Stephanie A. S. Staras, M.S.P.H., Ph.D.

Dr. Staras is a professor and Associate Chair for Faculty Development in the Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics. She is also the Associate Director of the Institute for Child Health Policy and co-lead for the UFHealth Cancer Center’s Cancer Control and Population Science Program. Dr. Staras is an expert in rigorous and impactful research in prevention of human papillomavirus (HPV)-related cancers and using implementation science methods to increase health equity. She focuses on improving the clinical recommendations for, parent receptiveness to, and access to HPV vaccines among adolescents within Florida. She has served as Principal Investigator on investigator-initiated National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Cancer Institute (NCI) funded and foundation grants with total PI funding of over $11 million. Dr. Staras is a recognized expert in implementation science research methods.

Nicole P. Gregory, PhD

Dr. Gregory is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Outcomes & Biomedical Informatics, Faculty Liaison for Research IT Builds for the Office of Data Science & Research Implementation (ODSRI), and Director of the eHealth Core for the Cancer Informatics Shared Resource (CISR). Her research seeks to study and improve health care safety and quality via clinical informatics tools (including the electronic health record [EHR], mHealth and eHealth, telehealth, and simulation-based training & virtual reality) with a particular focus around improving healthcare teamwork and patient-provider collaboration. Her research focuses on use of technology including mHealth, clinical decision support via the electronic health record (EHR), and advanced methods of education and training, to improve collaboration between providers, healthcare professionals, and patients (both during and between episodes of care) to improve patient safety and quality of care. To accomplish this work, she uses mixed methods such as user centered design, qualitative analysis, surveys/patient reported outcomes (PROs), and meta-analysis.

Yonghui Wu, PhD

Dr. Wu is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics and an expert in machine learning and data mining.

Mattia Prosperi, PhD

Dr. Prosperi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics and an expert in bioinformatics and computational biology.

Yi Guo, PhD

Dr. Guo is Associate Professor, Associate Chair for Data Science, and Division Chief (Preeminent Scholar) of Biomedical Informatics and Data Science in the Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics at the University of Florida. He also serves as the Chief Data Scientist and Director of the Cancer Informatics Shared Resource for the UF Health Cancer Center, Co-Director of the UF CTSI Biomedical Informatics Program, as well as the Associate Director of the Office of Data Science Research for the OneFlorida+ Clinical Research Network. Dr. Guo has a multi-disciplinary background in the analysis of real-world data such as those from electronic health records (EHRs) and administrative claims, randomized trial and observational study design, predictive modeling (e.g., statistical and machine learning), causal modeling, and the analysis of patient-reported outcomes (PROs). Together, Dr. Guo’s areas of expertise serve an overarching research theme: generating real-world evidence to support healthcare decision-making for disease prevention and control.

Ruogu Fang, PhD

Dr. Fang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics and an expert in medical image analysis and computer-aided diagnosis.

Zhiguo Li, PhD

Dr. Li is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics and an expert in statistical genetics and genomics.

Lindsay Thompson, PhD

Dr. Thompson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics and an expert in health communication and behavioral science.

Yuan Liu, PhD

Dr. Liu is an Associate Professor with Tenure in the College of Medicine, Department of Health Outcomes & Biomedical Informatics (HOBI) at the University of Florida. She also serves as the Director of Predictive Analytics and Associate Director of Graduate Education in HOBI. Dr. Liu received her PhD in Computer Science from the University of Kansas and completed her National Library of Medicine (NLM) postdoctoral fellowship in biomedical informatics at Vanderbilt University. Her research interest in bioinformatics began during her doctoral study with the development of novel mac…

Research Areas and Initiatives

The Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics at the University of Florida focuses on a wide range of research areas, including:

Biomedical Informatics: This area focuses on developing and applying computational methods to analyze and interpret biological and clinical data.
Health Outcomes Research: This area focuses on evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of healthcare interventions and policies.
Implementation Science: This area focuses on developing and testing strategies to implement evidence-based practices in real-world settings.
Data Science: This area focuses on developing and applying statistical and machine learning methods to analyze large datasets.
Cancer Informatics: This area focuses on applying informatics methods to improve cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.
Gerontology: This area focuses on understanding the aging process and developing interventions to improve the health and well-being of older adults.
Child Health Policy: This area focuses on developing and evaluating policies to improve the health and well-being of children.

The department is also involved in several key initiatives, including:

OneFlorida+ Clinical Research Network: A multi-state clinical research network that uses real-world data to support healthcare decision-making.
UF Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI): An institute that supports translational research across the University of Florida.
UF Health Cancer Center: A National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center that conducts research to improve cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.
Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center (OAIC): A center that conducts research to improve the health and well-being of older adults.

Education and Training Programs

The Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics offers a variety of education and training programs to prepare students for careers in biomedical informatics, health outcomes research, and related fields. These programs include:

Master of Science in Biomedical Informatics: A graduate program that provides students with a strong foundation in biomedical informatics.
Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Informatics: A doctoral program that prepares students for careers as independent researchers in biomedical informatics.
Graduate Certificate in Biomedical Informatics: A certificate program that provides students with specialized training in biomedical informatics.
T32 Translational Research on Aging and Mobility (TRAM): program.

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