About the Center for Biomedical Data Science

The Center for Biomedical Data Science (CBDS) is an innovative joint research center dedicated to using advanced data science tools and approaches to explore normal and abnormal biological states at cell, tissue, organ, organismal and population levels. Our hope is to prevent and cure diseases earlier, faster, and better. Supported by lead gifts from Tim and Mary Boyle of $10 million to each institution, the center is a joint effort of the University of Oregon (UO) and Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) that integrates world class expertise at both UO’s Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact and OHSU’s Knight Cancer Institute.

Mission

The mission of the Center for Biomedical Data Science is to empower researchers at the University of Oregon’s Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact and Oregon Health & Science University’s Knight Cancer Institute to join forces and attack deadly diseases such as cancer with big data. Additionally, we seek to train the next generation of biomedical data scientists in the use of tools such as artificial intelligence and machine learning in the search for biomedical solutions. The center builds upon the complementary strengths and expertise at both Institutions. We aim to tackle biomedical problems in cell biology, regenerative medicine, and cancer, and to create a uniquely interactive environment that supports the research activities of our faculty and staff and the training needs of our students.

Other Areas of Emphasis

Training

The center is recruiting world class faculty in areas such as computer science, applied math and genomics to work with undergraduate and graduate students on applied interdisciplinary problems, and existing faculty members at both institutions will become involved with CBDS as faculty fellows. CBDS will have a permanent home at UO with the completion of Knight Campus Building 2 in early 2026, which will serve to support research collaborations amongst faculty and the education of the next generation of biomedical data scientists. In addition to this beautiful new collaborative space, CBDS high performance computing infrastructure will empower researchers to work together using machine learning with very large datasets.

Collaboration

In addition to being a bridge between the University of Oregon (UO) and Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), the Center for Biomedical Data Science (CBDS) will be an engine for collaboration and innovation across UO. UO’s long-standing excellence in the basic sciences, and the Knight Campus’s burgeoning applied science portfolio, have laid a foundation for the success of CBDS. The Center is also leveraging UO’s high-performance computing power and new centralized educational and research opportunities in UO’s School of Computer and Data Science. Large collaborative research proposals will support shared research projects and integrated graduate student training that will bring UO researchers together across campus to work with their colleagues at OHSU.

Innovation

Building upon the Knight Campus emphasis on innovation and entrepreneurship, the long-term vision for CBDS is to develop industry partnerships who will work with our community to turn biomedical data science breakthroughs into real world positive impacts for human health.