Director's Message
Fall 2024
It is hard to realize that I have already been at the U of A for six months. It has been a big transition from Chicago, but my wife and I are already feeling at home. We knew we were acclimating to Tucson when we looked at the thermometer and said to each other, “It’s only 93 degrees.” We are looking forward to fall, a season that everyone tells us is the best time in Tucson.
Over the last few months, I have gotten to know the CB2 staff. I have been extremely impressed by the quality, compassion and dedication of the CB2 staff. With their help, I see great things in CB2’s future. I also want to thank the many staff, faculty and administrators across U of A and Banner Health, as well as leaders of community groups and partner organizations, who have taken time to meet with me to help define a vision and direction for CB2. In the coming months I will be posting periodic notes documenting our progress on this journey.
Patients intuitively understand that if they want the latest and best healthcare therapies today, they need to seek out an institution that is actively researching and developing the best therapies for tomorrow. A strong biomedical research program is necessary to deliver the highest quality of healthcare services. Increasingly, biomedical research rests on a computational foundation, which includes Biomedical Informatics, Health AI, and Biostatistics.
As we move forward to expand and strengthen CB2, it is important to remember that no organization, no matter how large, wealthy or famous, can be the best at everything. Trying to do everything and be everything usually means that you do not excel at anything. In general, organizations excel when they identify and leverage their unique strengths and capabilities. The U of A is a land-grant institution. It has a responsibility to the residents of Arizona to improve life in Arizona through education and research. The University of Arizona is the only institution with over $100,000,000 in NIH medical school research that is also in a state with over 4% Native American population. In addition, Arizona is 4th nationally in percentage of Hispanic/Latino population. The U of A’s historical investment in outreach to the Native American and Hispanic communities, creates a unique opportunity partner these historically underserved groups. The U of A is already recognized as a global leader in the field of Indigenous Data Sovereignty through the work of Dr. Carroll. And our All of Us Research Program at U of A and Banner Heath leads the nation in recruitment of participants traditionally underrepresented in biomedical research.
By leveraging these strengths, I believe that U of A can become the leading institution in the country at developing and applying Biomedical Informatics, Health AI, and Biostatistics to the unique health challenges of underserved groups, especially our Hispanic and Native American communities.
We are already moving forward with our vision for a more impactful CB2. We have hired Keith Norton as our new Director of Health Data Science Services to replace the retiring Vern Pilling. We will be adding a number of new staff and services in the coming year. Around the time of this massive growth, we will be posting our first faculty recruitment, with other postings soon to follow.
You are reading this note on our newly redesigned website, which we hope will make it easier for researchers to access our services. At the end of October will be the formal opening of the Grand Challenges Research Building (GCRB). CB2 will be expanding into space on the fifth floor of GCRB. We will also be launching several activities to strengthen the larger informatics and biostatistics community at the U of A. We will be launching a membership model of CB2 along with a quarterly newsletter. Watch for announcement of our new speaker series.
Justin B. Starren, MD, PhD
Director, Center for Biomedical Informatics and Biostatistics
