2002 Mayden Lecture

• Home
• About the Mayden Lecture
• Previous Mayden Lectures

2002 Priscilla M. Mayden Lecture

Computers, Biology, and the Productivity Paradox

David J. Lipman, M.D.

Director
National Center for Biotechnology Information
National Library of Medicine

October 22, 2002 - 10:30 a.m.

George & Dolores Eccles Genetics Institute Auditorium

RealMedia Video Archive
PowerPoint slides from presentation

Abstract

Despite the growing business investment in information technology (IT), economists have had difficulty showing a commensurate return on this investment. The biomedical research community however seems convinced that bioinformatics and computational biology has had a significant impact on the progress of research. An overview will be provided of the Productivity Paradox and in describing some examples of the critical role IT has in the New Biology, suggest why IT may be surprisingly effective in specific areas of biological research. The experiences of the National Center for Biotechnology Information will be discussed in identifying and developing information resources that can become tools in the scientific discovery process.

Dr. David Lipman is currently the Director of the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), which is a division of the National Library of Medicine within the National Institutes of Health. NCBI was created by Congress in 1988 to do basic research in computational biology, and to develop computational tools, databases and information systems for molecular biology.

The Priscilla M. Mayden Lecture was established by her friends and colleagues, recognizing her service to the University as Director of the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library.