Over the last two decades, the Biomedical and Health Informatics (BHI) research and training program at the UW has matured from a loose confederation of researchers in informatics, to one of the largest nationally-funded training programs in the U.S. Our most senior faculty have had an interest in informatics dating back to the late 1960s. However, a more concrete starting point might be the partnership in the early 1990’s by the UW Health Sciences Schools, UW Medical Center and Harborview Medical Center to develop a successful Integrated Advanced Information Management Systems (IAIMS) planning grant and implementation grant, both led by Dr. Sherrilynne Fuller. A number of research and development projects were undertaken; however the most important outcome of the IAIMS process at UW was that it ultimately led to the development of our graduate programs (M.S. and Ph.D.) and the establishment of the Division of Biomedical and Health Informatics. 

The need for a coherent graduate program in BHI was foreseen in 1990 with the formation of an Interdisciplinary Graduate Program Committee, chaired by Dr. Ira Kalet, under the Graduate School of the UW.  The proposal to create a graduate program in BHI was recognized as a very high priority by the University; in 1999 we were awarded a special University Initiatives Fund (UIF) budget to support the program. UIF support has allowed for the support of key existing faculty, and the hiring of new faculty and support staff for teaching and administration of the program. A research-oriented Master's degree program was approved and began in Fall 2000 with nine students. A Ph.D. program plan was approved by the UW Board of Regents in Summer 2003. Our first M.S. student graduated in 2002, and our first Ph.D. in 2005 (see alumni web page).

In 2002, we received national support for our graduate program,  via a training grant from the National Library of Medicine to support both Ph.D. students and post-doctoral trainees in our program. In 2006, we received similar training fellowship funding specifically for public health informatics.