PROJECT SUMMARY: BIOMEDICAL INFORMATICS (BMI) CORE The mission of the Biomedical Informatics (BMI) Key Component Activity (KCA) of the Louisiana Clinical and Translational Science Center (LA CaTS) is to develop and deploy “state of the art” biomedical informatics capabilities and services across all partner institutions, in support of clinical and translational research aimed at improving health outcomes and addressing disparities in our most vulnerable populations. Over the past 4 years, the BMI KCA supported 55 LA CaTS Investigators across 14 institutions, resulting in 27 publications and 7 funded grant applications. During the next funding period, the BMI KCA will pursue several innovative goals: 1) the creation of i2b2-searchable “virtual cohorts” for diseases disproportionately affecting Louisiana patients; 2) the participation in the Southeast SHRINE and TriNetX clinical data networks; 3) the integration of genomic, pathologic and clinical datasets; and 4) the creation of a searchable “virtual biorepository” linking physical biorepositories across LA CaTS institutions. We will leverage key collaborations with: PCORI-funded REACHnet; UAB- and Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC)-led CTSA Centers; the Precision Medicine and Bioinformatics Programs at LSUHSC-New Orleans, and the Louisiana Tumor Registry (LTR). We are excited about expanding our services to our LA CaTS new partner institutions: the LSUHSC Dental and Nursing Schools, the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Healthcare System, the University Medical Center in New Orleans and Ochsner Health System. To accomplish our mission, we propose the following aims: Specific Aim 1. To significantly expand ongoing BMI services and to build on our experience to develop novel analytical tools for data mining, precision medicine and molecular epidemiology. Specific Aim 2. To expand our ability to enable meaningful collaboration and data sharing between LA CaTS Investigators and Louisiana-based Louisiana Biomedical Research Network (LBRN) and Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) Centers, and between LA CaTS Investigators and CTSA Centers regionally and nationally, and to increase cyber access to underserved populations. Specific Aim 3. To provide continued, coordinated support for project design and implementation and professional development, in close cooperation with the Clinical Research Resources (CRR), Design, Epidemiology and Biostatistics (DEB), Cyberinfrastructure Enhancement (CE), Professional Development (PD), Ethics and Regulatory Knowledge (ERKC) and Health Literacy (HL) KCAs.