Laboratory Informatics: Origin, Scope, and its Place in Higher Education

Abstract

Laboratory informatics is defined as the specialized application of information technology to optimize and extend laboratory operations. Rising with the tide of informatics in general, laboratory informatics is one of the fastest growing areas of laboratory-related technology. However, this technological growth has outstripped the expertise of the ones who stand to gain most from it: scientists and other end users in the laboratory. This gap could be bridged by specialists in laboratory informatics who are well grounded in the scientific basis of lab operations, yet also trained in informatics and its particular applications in the lab. However, formal educational programs in laboratory informatics are lacking. To set an educational agenda, laboratory informatics must be delineated as a field, and based on that delineation, a curriculum must be developed that meets the standards of higher education. To address these issues, this paper gives an overview of informatics, describes the context of laboratory informatics in this setting, explains the emergence of laboratory informatics as a distinct field, sets the place for laboratory informatics in higher education by suggesting the nature and scope of the curriculum, and briefly describes the laboratory informatics initiative at Indiana University.