Definitions

Bioinformatics:

Develops and uses software tools and pipelines to analyze and annotate large and complex amounts of omics data, such as spatial, genomic, proteomic, and transcriptomic data.

Computational Biology:

Develops and uses mathematical models and computational simulations to better understand biological mechanisms, such as the progression of a disease like cancer.

Bioinformatics & Computational Biology: More Than Just Tools for IGS Researchers

While some people may interchange the terms Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, within IGS they are distinct, yet collaborative, fields of research. 

Our bioinformaticians work in our Genome Informatics Core (GIC) and in tandem with Maryland Genomics to provide custom and comprehensive bioinformatics services to researchers on campus and beyond. The GIC staff has built a set of robust data management and visualization tools that are used to democratize bioinformatics and clinical informatics analysis and visualization to researchers within IGS, across the campus, and around the world. 

Our computational biologists build mechanistic models of disease and integrative analysis tools for data management. For example, our scientists build models of cancer with a focus on solid malignancies, the immune system, and therapeutic interventions. In addition, they use agent-based modeling in an effort to develop "digital twins" that can simulate how an individual's cancer might progress or how they would respond to specific drugs.