Alumni
Over 110 students have graduated from the Department of Biomedical Informatics (25+ PhD, 50+ MS, 25+ Certificate). The diversity of careers available to DBMI alumnus is evident in their biographies. Many of our graduates are teaching and performing research in academic institutions, such as Vanderbilt University, Arizona State University, and New York University while others have entered private industry with companies such as Cerner Corporation and Boston Scientific; some have positions in government agencies, such as the NIH and AHRQ, while others are at major medical centers, serving in roles such as Chief Medical Information Officer. We maintain a database of the career paths of our graduates. If you are an alumnus, please contact us if you would like to submit or update information!
Patricia Corby
Biographical Info
Currently: Dr. Corby was trained as a general dentist followed by a specialty and residency in Periodontics and Implants. She then obtained her MS in Biomedical Informatics from the University of Pittsburgh, with focus on clinical informatics and machine learning for clinical genomics. She also completed a postdoctoral program in Molecular Biology and Microbial Genetics from Harvard University and the Forsyth Institute. This inspired an interest in the oral microbiome and its impact on systemic health which continues to this day. Dr. Corby has served as Principal Investigator, Co-Investigator, or Consultant on a number of industry-, foundation-, and NIH-funded projects. She is an experienced clinical trialist, with over 20 years of experience designing and running high-impact clinical research projects. As Associate Dean for Translational Research, and Director of the Penn Dental Medicine, Center for Clinical and Translational Research, Dr. Corby lends her extensive expertise to helping others design, obtain funding for, and operationalize clinical research projects. She has trained and mentored dozens of students and postdoctoral candidates and continues this work at Penn Dental Medicine through the Center for Clinical and Translational Research.
Publications – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/patricia.corby.1/bibliography/public/
I joined DBMI as a Master’s student coming from a clinical research background and one of the first dentists to join the program. At that time, I was looking for better ways to translate the large amount of data and information generated from my research which involved genomics, microbiome and clinical phenotypes, that required deep understanding of computational tools and clinical translational research skills. I clearly understood that was a crucial, and largely unmet, need for training clinicians so we are able to integrate, interpret, and act upon the large-scale, high-throughput, and complex data that are generated in the course of biomedical research. The training I received at DBMI was by far the best experience I had in my academic journey. The classes, mentorship, the rich and collaborative environment, the fast learning experience and support I received from faculty, staff and colleagues is something that I will never forget. The skills and analytical approaches that I learned I use constantly not only in my own research, but also helped me advance in my career development.
*In my spare time, I love producing science-related movies with my son who is a movie director. I also spend time Facetiming with my granddaughter, who is growing into a budding scientist herself.