Bioinformatics is the intersection of biology and computer science. In this major, you’ll analyze big data collected by the healthcare industry to discover, diagnose, and treat a wide range of medical conditions. A rapidly growing field that requires professionals to possess problem-solving skills, you’ll gain hands-on learning through distinct undergraduate research opportunities. Graduates pursue graduate degrees and go on to successful careers in bioinformatics software development, biomedical research, biotechnology, comparative genomics, genomics, molecular imaging, pharmaceutical research and development, proteomics, and vaccine development.

Bioinformaticists use computers to analyze, organize, and visualize biological data in ways that increase the understanding of this data and lead to new discoveries. In laboratory exercises and assignments, you’ll learn to sequence DNA and use computer programs to analyze DNA sequences and predict molecular models.

The bioinformatics and computational biology major was developed by faculty in the departments of biological sciences, chemistry, computer science, mathematics and statistics, and information technology, with the guidance from leaders in the bioinformatics and biotechnology industries. The major meets the needs of prospective employers in this challenging and rapidly changing and growing field.

Bioinformatics is a field that has been developing over the last thirty years. It is a discipline that represents a marriage between biotechnology and computer technologies and has evolved through the convergence of advances in each of these fields. Today bioinformatics is a field that encompasses all aspects of the application of computer technologies to biological data. Computers are used to organize, link, analyze and visualize complex sets of biological data.

Typical Job Titles

• Senior Analyst/Programmer
• Associate Systems Analyst
• Bioinformaticist
• Bioinformatics Analyst
• Bioinformatics Engineer