Professor of Biomedical Informatics

Professor of Pathology

Professor of Information Sciences

Professor of Telecommunications

Chair of Department of Biomedical Informatics

Contact Info:

Research Interests

• Translational Bioinformatics
• Pathology Informatics
• Prostate Tumor Cell Biology
• Oncology Informatics
• Tissue Banking Informatics
• Research Resource Development
• Content-based Image Retrieval and Digital Libraries
• Outcome Informatics

Education

Graduate:

Dates Attended: 7/77-6/82 and 7/83-6/84
Name and Location of Institution: Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
Degrees Received and Year: MD, PhD, 1984
Major Subject: Medicine and Experimental Pathology

Post Graduate:

Dates Attended: 7/82-6/83
Name and Location of Institution: University of Nebraska, Omaha, NE
Degree Received and Year: Fellow, 1983
Major Subject: Fellow in Pathology

Dates Attended: 7/84-6/87
Name and Location of Institution: Washington University, St. Louis, MO
Degree Received and Year: Resident, 1987
Major Subject: Anatomic Pathology

Dates Attended: 7/87-6/89
Name and Location of Institution: Washington University, St. Louis, MO
Degree Received and Year: Fellow, 1989
Major Subject: Anatomic Pathology

Publications

Handler SM, Hanlon JT, Perera S, Saul MI, Fridsma DB, Visweswaran S, Studenski SA, Roumani YF, Castle NG, Nace DA, Becich MJ. Assessing the performance characteristics of signals used by a clinical event monitor to detect adverse drug reactions in the nursing home. AMIA Annu Symp Proc. 2008 Nov 6:278-82. PMID: 18998853 [PubMed - in process]

Piwowar HA, Becich MJ, Bilofsky H, Crowley RS; on behalf of the caBIG Data Sharing and Intellectual Capital Workspace. Towards a Data Sharing Culture: Recommendations for Leadership from Academic Health Centers. PLoS Med. 2008 Sep 2;5(9):e183. [Epub ahead of print] No abstract available. PMID: 18767901 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Dhir R, Patel AA, Winters S, Bisceglia M, Swanson D, Aamodt R, Becich MJ. A multidisciplinary approach to honest broker services for tissue banks and clinical data: a pragmatic and practical model. Cancer 2008 Oct 1;113(7):1705-15. PMID: 18683217 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Bartos CE, Fridsma DB, Butler BS, Penrod LE, Becich MJ, Crowley RS. Development of an instrument for measuring clinicians’ power perceptions in the workplace. J Biomed Inform. 2008 Dec;41(6):1041-9. Epub 2008 Mar 4. PMID: 18375189 [PubMed - in process]

Yende S, D’Angelo G, Kellum JA, Weissfeld L, Fine J, Welch RD, Kong L, Carter M, Angus DC; GenIMS Investigators. Inflammatory markers at hospital discharge predict subsequent mortality after pneumonia and sepsis. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2008 Jun 1;177(11):1242-7. Epub 2008 Mar 27. PMID: 18369199 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Yin M, Bastacky S, Chandran U, Becich MJ, Dhir R. Prevalence of incidental prostate cancer in the general population: a study of healthy organ donors. J Urol. 2008 Mar;179(3):892-5; discussion 895. Epub 2008 Jan 22. PMID: 18207193 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Raab SS, Grzybicki DM, Condel JL, Stewart WR, Turcsanyi BD, Mahood LK, Becich MJ. Effect of Lean method implementation in the histopathology section of an anatomical pathology laboratory. J Clin Pathol. 2008 Nov;61(11):1193-9. Epub 2007 Aug 3. PMID: 17675533 [PubMed - in process]

Mohanty SK, Mistry AT, Amin W, Parwani AV, Pople AK, Schmandt L, Winters SB, Milliken E, Kim P, Whelan NB, Farhat G, Melamed J, Taioli E, Dhir R, Pass HI, Becich MJ. The development and deployment of Common Data Elements for tissue banks for translational research in cancer - an emerging standard based approach for the Mesothelioma Virtual Tissue Bank. BMC Cancer. 2008 Apr 8;8:91. PMID: 18397527 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Handler SM, Shirts BH, Perera S, Becich MJ, Castle NG, Hanlon JT. Frequency of laboratory monitoring of chronic medications administered to nursing facility residents: results of a national internet-based study. Consult Pharm. 2008 May;23(5):387-95. PMID: 18540792 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Amin W, Parwani AV, Schmandt L, Mohanty SK, Farhat G, Pople AK, Winters SB, Whelan NB, Schneider AM, Milnes JT, Valdivieso FA, Feldman M, Pass HI, Dhir R, Melamed J, Becich MJ. National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank: a standard based biospecimen and clinical data resource to enhance translational research. BMC Cancer 2008, Aug. 13;8(1):236. PMID: 18700971

Dhir R, Patel AA, Winters S, Bisceglia M, Swanson D, Aamodt R, Becich MJ. A multidisciplinary approach to honest broker services for tissue banks and clinical data: a pragmatic and practical model. Cancer. 2008 Oct 1;113(7):1705-15. PMID: 18683217

Kajdacsy-Balla A, Geynisman JM, Macias V, Setty S, Nanaji NM, Berman JJ, Dobbin K, Melamed J, Kong X, Bosland M, Orenstein J, Bayerl J, Becich MJ, Dhir R, Datta MW; Cooperative Prostate Cancer Tissue Resource. Practical aspects of planning, building, and interpreting tissue microarrays: the Cooperative Prostate Cancer Tissue Resource experience. J Mol Histol. 2007 May;38(2):113-21. Epub 2007 Feb 21. Review. PMID: 17318343 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

caBIG Strategic Planning Workspace. The Cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid (caBIG): infrastructure and applications for a worldwide research community. Medinfo. 2007;12(Pt 1):330-4. PMID: 17911733 [PubMed - in process]

Patel AA, Gilbertson JR, Showe LC, London JW, Ross E, Ochs MF, Carver J, Lazarus A, Parwani AV, Dhir R, Mohanty S, Beck JF, Liebman M, Garcia F, Prichard J, Wilkerson M, Herberman RB, Becich MJ, and the PCABC. A Novel Cross-Disciplinary Multi-Institute Approach to Translational Cancer Research: Lessons Learned from Pennsylvania Cancer Alliance Bioinformatics Consortium (PCABC). Cancer Informatics , in press.

Chandran UR, Ma C, Dhir R, Bisceglia M, Lyons-Weiler M, Liang W, Michalopoulos G, Becich M, Monzon FA. Gene expression profiles of prostate cancer reveal involvement of multiple molecular pathways in the metastatic process. BMC Cancer. 2007 Apr 12;7:64. PMID: 17430594 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Drake TA, Braun J, Marchevsky A, Kohane IS, Fletcher C, Chueh H, Beckwith B, Berkowicz D, Kuo F, Zeng QT, Balis U, Holzbach A, McMurry A, Gee CE, McDonald CJ, Schadow G, Davis M, Hattab EM, Blevins L, Hook J, Becich M, Crowley RS, Taube SE, Berman J; Shared Pathology Informatics Network. A system for sharing routine surgical pathology specimens across institutions: the Shared Pathology Informatics Network. Hum Pathol. 2007 Aug;38(8):1212-25. Epub 2007 May 8. PMID: 17490722 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Mohanty SK, Piccoli AL, Devine LJ, Patel AA, William GC, Winters SB, Becich MJ, Parwani AV. Synoptic tool for reporting of hematological and lymphoid neoplasms based on World Health Organization classification and College of American Pathologists checklist. BMC Cancer. 2007 Jul 31;7:144. PMID: 17672904

Drake TA, Braun J, Marchevsky A, Kohane IS, Fletcher C, Chueh H, Beckwith B, Berkowicz D, Kuo F, Zeng QT, Balis U, Holzbach A, McMurry A, Gee CE, McDonald CJ, Schadow G, Davis M, Hattab EM, Blevins L, Hook J, Becich M, Crowley RS, Taube SE, Berman J; Shared Pathology Informatics Network. A system for sharing routine surgical pathology specimens across institutions: the Shared Pathology Informatics Network. Hum Pathol. 2007 Aug;38(8):1212-25. Epub 2007 May 8. PMID: 17490722 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

LaFramboise WA, Scalise D, Stoodley P, Graner SR, Guthrie RD, Magovern JA, Becich MJ. Cardiac fibroblasts influence cardiomyocyte phenotype in vitro. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2007 May;292(5):C1799-808. Epub 2007 Jan 17. PMID: 17229813

Grants

Present Funding:

Funding Agency: NIH/NCI
Grant/Contract No.: 94125DBS47
Title of Project: Cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid (caBIG)
Principal Investigator: Michael Becich
Role: Principal Investigator
Entire Project Period: 3/7/08-2/14/09

Funding Agency: NIH/NCI
Grant/Contract No.: P30 CA47904
Title of Project: Cancer Center Support
Principal Investigator: Ronald Herberman
Role: Informatics Core Principal Investigator
Entire Project Period: 12/01/2002-7/31/10

Funding Agency: CDC NIOSH
Grant/Contract No.: 5 U19 OH009077-02
Title of Project: Mesothelioma Virtual Bank for Translational Research
Principal Investigator: Michael Becich
Role: Principal Investigator
Entire Project Period: 9/01/2006-8/28/2009

Funding Agency: NIH/NCI
Grant/Contract No.: PO1 CA109688-03
Title of Project: Immune Escape in Human Cancer: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Implications
Principal Investigator: Theresa L. Whiteside, PhD
Role: Principal Investigator
Entire Project Period: 9/30/2006-7/31/2011

Funding Agency: NCRR
Grant/Contract No.: UL1 RR024153-03
Title of Project: Center for Clinical and Translational Informatics (CCTI) University of Pittsburgh Clinical and Translational Research Institute
Principal Investigator: Steven Reis
Role: Co-Director of CTSI and PI for Biomedical Informatics
Entire Project Period: 10/01/2006-6/30/2011

Funding Agency: NLM/NIDR/NHLBI
Grant/Contract No.:5 T15 LM007059-21
Title of Project: Pittsburgh Biomedical Informatics Training Program
Principal Investigator: Gregory Cooper
Role: Core Faculty
Entire Project Period: 7/01/2007-6/30/2012

Funding Agency: NIOSH/CDC
Grant/Contract No.: RFA-OH-08-002
Title of Project: Expansion of the National Mesothelioma Virtual Registry and Tissue Bank (U24)
Principal Investigator: Michael J. Becich
Role: Principal Investigator
Entire Project Period: 9/1/08-8/31/11

Funding Agency: Digital PathCo, LLC
Grant/Contract No.: DIGITAL CO
Title of Project: Digital Pathology
Principal Investigator: Mike Becich
Role: PI
Entire Project Period: 4/1/08 – 3/31/11

Funding Agency: NIH
Grant/Contract No.: P50 CA121973
Title of Project: SPORE in Skin Cancer
Principal Investigator: John M. Kirkwood, MD
Role: Core Director
Entire Project Period: 8/26/08 – 7/31/13

Funding Agency: NIH
Grant/Contract No.: UO1 CA11752
Title of Project: Multiplexed Serum Biomarks for Pancreatic Cancer
Principal Investigator: Anna Lokshin, PhD
Role: Co-Investigator
Entire Project Period: 9/1205-7/31/09

Past Funding:

Funding Agency: Department of Defense (GDC)
Grant/Contract No.: USAMRMC Prime Award W81XWH-05-2-0005
Title of Project: Gynecologic Disease Program
Principal Investigator: Larry Maxwell
Role: Co-Investigator
Entire Project Period: 8/16/2005-2/24/2009

Funding Agency: Science Applications International Corporation
Grant/Contract No.: 42-00CLR10-0981
Title of Project: Next Generation Virtual Private Networks with Applications for Regional Collaboration
Principal Investigator: Michael Becich
Role: Principal Investigator
Entire Project Period: 2/16/2000-12/28/2002

Funding Agency: Demeter Bio Technologies Ltd.
Grant/Contract No.: N/A
Title of Project: Demeter Study
Principal Investigator: Robert Getzenberg
Role: Co-Investigator
Entire Project Period: 8/8/1997-12/31/1998

Funding Agency: MPC/Pittsburgh Supercomputing/NCRR
Grant/Contract No.: P41 RR06009
Title of Project: Biomedical Collaboration for Software Development
Principal Investigator: Charles Friedman
Role: Co-Investigator
Entire Project Period: 9/1/1998-7/31/2002

Funding Agency: NIH/NIDDK
Grant/Contract No.: R01 DK52697
Title of Project: Effects of Vitamin D on Human Prostate Growth
Principal Investigator: Robert Getzenberg
Role: Co-Investigator
Entire Project Period: 7/1/1997-6/30/2002

Funding Agency: CaPCURE
Grant/Contract No.: N/A
Title of Project: An Advanced Tissue Banking Information System
Principal Investigator: Michael Becich
Role: Principal Investigator
Entire Project Period: 4/1/2000-3/31/2001

Funding Agency: CaPCURE
Grant/Contract No.: Cancer Patients: Using Pathology Reports to Connect to Stage-Specific Disease Information via the Internet
Title of Project: Michael Becich
Principal Investigator: Principal Investigator
Percent of Effort: 1/1/2000-12/31/2000

Funding Agency: NIH
Grant/Contract No.: N01 CN75018
Title of Project: MA042
Principal Investigator: Donald Trump/Joel Nelson
Role: Co-Investigator
Entire Project Period: 2/11/1997-8/14/2000

Funding Agency: NICHD Small Grants Program
Grant/Contract No.: N/A
Title of Project: Spinal Cord Injury and Bladder Cancer Detection
Principal Investigator: Robert Getzenberg
Role: Co-Investigator
Entire Project Period: 2/1/1998-1/31/2000

Funding Agency: CaPCURE
Grant/Contract No.: N/A
Title of Project: Information Therapy for Prostate Cancer Patients: Building Internet Tools for the CaPCURE Clinical Trials Group
Principal Investigator: Michael Becich
Role: Principal Investigator
Entire Project Period: 1/1/1991-12/31/1999

Funding Agency: Science Applications International Corporation
Grant/Contract No.: 440009691
Title of Project: Phase I Planning Stage of MLMs Next Generation Internet Programming
Principal Investigator: Michael Becich
Role: Principal Investigator
Entire Project Period: 12/1/1998-9/30/1999

Funding Agency: NIH
Grant/Contract No.: RO1 CA59834
Title of Project: Drug Metabolizing Enzymes in Bladder Cancer
Principal Investigator: Robert Branch
Role: Co-Investigator
Entire Project Period: 7/1/1994-4/30/1999

Funding Agency: NIH DK-02-017
Grant/Contract No.: DK-02-017
Title of Project: MTOPS Prostate Samples Analysis Consortium (MPSA)
Principal Investigator: Robert Getzenberg
Role: Co-Investigator
Entire Project Period: 10/1/2002-9/30/2005

Funding Agency: NIH/National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research
Grant/Contract No.: P60 DE13059
Title of Project: Oral Cancer Center
Principal Investigator: Eugene Myers
Role: Co-Investigator
Entire Project Period: 8/1/2000-7/31/2005

Funding Agency: NIH/NCI
Grant/Contract No.: U01 CA88110
Title of Project: Molecular Reclassification of Prostatic Cancer
Principal Investigator: George Michalopoulos
Role: Co-Principal Investigator
Entire Project Period: 8/29/2000-1/31/2005

Funding Agency: NIH/NCI
Grant/Contract No.: U01 CA86735
Title of Project: A Shared Tissue Resource for Molecular Classification of Prostate Cancer
Principal Investigator: Michael Becich
Role: Principal Investigator
Entire Project Period: 5/26/2000-3/31/2007

Funding Agency: PA Commonwealth
Grant/Contract No.: ME 01-740
Title of Project: Pennsylvania Bioinformatics Consortium for Cancer Research
Principal Investigator: Ronald Herberman
Role: Co-Principal Investigator
Entire Project Period: 7/01/2002-6/30/2006

Funding Agency: Indiana University/NIH/NCI
Grant/Contract No.: U01 CA091338
Title of Project: Subcontract to Indiana University of Grant Indianapolis Pathology Informatics Network (Clement McDonald, PI)
Principal Investigator: Michael Becich (subcontract to Indiana)
Role: Co-Principal Investigator
Entire Project Period: 8/13/2001-7/31/2007

Funding Agency: TATRC/Department of Defense
Grant/Contract No.: USAMRAA Prim Award W81XWH-05-2-0066
Title of Project: Proteomics and Bioinformatics Core Facilities
Principal Investigator: Michael Becich
Role: Principal Investigator
Entire Project Period: 12/01/2004-8/31/2008

Funding Agency: AHRQ
Grant/Contract No.: PA 00-111
Title of Project: Health Services Research
Principal Investigator: Steve Raab
Entire Project Period: 12/01/2002-8/31/2008