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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Yearb Med Inform 2022; 31(01): 303-306
DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1742541
Research & Education

Informatics as Science[*]

Edward H. Shortliffe
Department of Biomedical Informatics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
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Summary

The evolution of the informatics field, now with a well-accepted and crucial role in modern biomedicine and health care delivery, is the result of creative research over seven decades. The success is due in part to recognition that, throughout the process, investigators have documented not only what they have done but what they have learned, stimulating and guiding the next generation of projects. Such iterative experimentation, learning, sharing, and progressing is typical of all scientific disciplines. Yet progress depends on identifying key lessons, insights, and methods so that others can use them. This paper addresses the nature of scientific progress in informatics, recognizing that while the field is motivated by applications that can improve biomedicine and health, the scientific underpinnings must be identified and shared with others if the field is to progress optimally.

Keywords

Medical informatics - biomedical informatics - health informatics - scientific research - informatics applications

* This paper is adapted from a presentation given by the author at the International Medical Informatics Association’s François Grémy Award of Excellence ceremony during Medinfo2021, October 2, 2021 (held virtually).




Publication History

Article published online:
04 December 2022

© 2022. IMIA and Thieme. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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