REU Site: Program for Access to Training in Health Informatics (PATHI)

健康信息学是动态和快速发展的，但很少有本科生知道在这个领域的职业道路。健康信息学培训项目（PATHI）是田纳西州纳什维尔范德比尔特大学医学中心的一个REU站点，旨在通过向本科生提供有意义的健康信息学研究经验来解决这一差距。该项目将在每年夏季为期10周的项目中培训10名健康信息学研究方面的本科生。在教师导师的指导下，学生将学习如何在计算机科学、基础科学、社会科学、工程和健康的交叉领域进行创新研究。这些项目涵盖了广泛的主题，从开发新的计算机程序到分析高度复杂的医学和基因数据，再到评估手机上健康应用程序的可用性。学生还将培养专业技能，为他们的下一步教育做准备，并为他们作为科学家的职业生涯前进树立信心。REU健康信息学培训计划（REU- pathi）网站将吸引来自不同背景的本科生参与有意义的科学研究项目，这些项目涉及计算科学、基础科学、工程、社会科学和健康。该计划还将使他们成为下一代研究人员，为重要的健康相关问题识别、设计、开发、部署和研究基于创新技术的解决方案。学生将参与研究、指导、传播和专业发展。他们将直接与教师导师和他们的研究小组合作，研究分为三个重点领域的项目：计算密集型主题、精确健康和人机交互。该计划还将为REU学生提供机会，向同行，研究生，教师和该领域传播他们的研究，并鼓励学生将他们的工作提交给专业会议和科学期刊。REU-PATHI项目和高中实习项目之间的联系将激励高中生考虑STEM教育途径。REU的学生项目也有可能有助于改善个人和人口健康。该计划将被严格评估，以了解对学生的影响。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Health informatics is dynamic and fast-growing, but few undergraduate students know about career paths available in the field. The Program for Access to Training in Health Informatics (PATHI), an REU site at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN, seeks to address this gap by providing meaningful health informatics research experiences to undergraduate students. The project will train 10 undergraduate students in health informatics research in a 10-week program each summer. With guidance from faculty mentors, students will learn how to conduct innovative research at the intersection of computer science, basic science, social science, engineering, and health. These projects span a wide range of topics, from developing new computer programs to analyze highly complex medical and genetic data to evaluating the usability of health apps on phones. Students will also build professional skills to prepare for next steps in their education and the confidence to move forward in their careers as scientists.The REU Program for Access to Training in Health Informatics (REU-PATHI) Site will engage undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds in meaningful scientific research projects at the nexus of computational science, basic science, engineering, social science, and health. The program will also prepare them to become the next generation of researchers identifying, designing, developing, deploying, and studying innovative technology-based solutions for important health-related problems. Students will participate in research, mentoring, dissemination, and professional development. They will work directly with a faculty mentor and their research group on projects grouped into three focus areas: computationally-intensive topics, precision health, and human-technology interaction. The program will also provide opportunities for REU students to disseminate their research to peers, graduate students, faculty, and the field and will encourage students to submit their work to professional conferences and scientific journals. Connections between the REU-PATHI program and a high school internship program will inspire high school students considering STEM educational pathways. REU student projects also have the potential to contribute to improving individual and population health. The program will be rigorously evaluated to understand impact on students.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.