Mental Health Informatics and Analytics Core
The Mental Health Informatics and Analytics Core provides comprehensive informatics and data science support for mental health research. Our team of experts in health informatics, biostatistics, data engineering, and clinical research collaborates with investigators to leverage cutting-edge data and computing platforms and analytical methods to advance mental health science.
The Mental Health Informatics and Analytics Core was formed in August 2020.
Data Acquisition and Preparation
Build computable phenotypes and develop standardized methods to extract, transform, and prepare clinical data from electronic health records, administrative databases, and research repositories for analysis.
Advanced Analytics Support
Provide expertise in biostatistics, machine learning, and predictive modeling to enable cutting-edge research in mental health outcomes and interventions.
Quality Improvement Initiatives
Support data-driven quality improvement projects that enhance clinical care delivery and patient outcomes in mental health settings.
Training & Collaboration
Foster a collaborative environment and provide training in informatics and data science methods to trainees, clinicians and researchers in the department.
Core Focus Areas
- Continue first-in-the-nation psychiatry informatics resident track
- Increase informatics education to general psychiatry trainees through dedicated informatics lecture series
- Identify opportunities for trainees to become involved in QI and research projects informed by informatics
- Promote health informatics knowledge across the department
- Provide a pathway for psychiatry residents to continue training in clinical informatics fellowship
- Continue and increase efforts to support provider EHR efficiency through provider education and EHR improvement efforts
- Identify, develop, and disseminate tools for gathering meaningful, data-informed clinical care insights from the EHR
- Enhance available mental health decision-support tools
- Support extension of our current care through mobile apps and other new technologies
- Build population health dashboards for our general and specialty psychiatric services
- Provide expertise in statistics, analytics, and health data management to support grantsmanship
- Develop informatics-focused research projects
- Support proper technique in data collection with quality control, statistical and predictive modeling, and interpretation of scientific data generated in the mental health sciences
- Build dashboards for research data visualization and analytics
- Map the landscape of UNC system informatics and analytics expertise in order to facilitate partnerships and link department faculty with appropriate resources
- Team with researchers by providing consultations and support on data sources, data acquisitions, data manipulation, and statistical analysis
- Partner on mental health informatics projects with UNC groups outside of the department of psychiatry
- Look for potential partners in other academic medical centers or industry