BS in Bioinformatics

Bioinformatics is a multidisciplinary program that combines biology with statistics and information technology to explore and understand biological data. Major research areas in the field include: alignment of gene and protein sequences, design and discovery of new drugs, prediction of protein structures, regulation of gene expressions and pathways, interaction of proteins, as well as association of genes with different diseases.

What Will I Learn?

The core areas of study are: bioinformatics tools and databases, programming languages, data structures and algorithms, data mining, biostatistics, cellular and molecular biology, genetics, chemical principles and biochemistry.

Our program also offers you a wide range of elective courses covering various research areas in bioinformatics such as functional genomics, structural bioinformatics, population genetics, association analysis, machine learning and systems biology.

Additionally, the program requires a capstone project, which provides you with the opportunity to apply your skills and knowledge to acquire research and practical experience.

Your Career

The exponential growth of biological information has led to a critical need for undergraduate students to be trained on the latest technologies and methods required to deal with such huge amounts of data. A classically trained biologist may be unfamiliar with the statistical and algorithmic knowledge required in the field. A classically trained computer scientist may also be unfamiliar with the biology and chemistry required to properly interpret, analyze and manage the data.

Our program strives for a balance of the two while providing you with a solid foundation in the biological and computer sciences in preparation for new graduate or career opportunities in bioinformatics, biology, computer science as well as the fast-paced healthcare industry. You can also choose to pursue a career in medicine because this is a pre-med program as well, and covers all the required courses to sit for the MCAT.

Curriculum

The Bioinformatics program is housed in the Computer Science and Mathematics Department, and is offered jointly with the Natural Sciences Department.

A total of 100 credits are required to graduate:

• Core courses: 30 credits
• Elective requirements: 12 credits
• Other requirements: 34 credits
• Liberal Arts Core Curriculum (LAC): 6 credits
• LAC Electives: 18 credits (Arts and Humanities min 9 cr.; Social Sciences min 6 cr.; elective = 3 cr. (can be from Hum/Art or Social Science).

Major Requirements (42 credits): 

Elective Courses: Choose any four courses (12 credits)

Other requirements (34 credits)

Liberal Arts Curriculum (24 credits)

**Required for students who will be sitting for the MCAT exam.