Marylyn D. Ritchie, PhD, FACMI

Dr. Ritchie is an expert in translational bioinformatics, with a focus on developing, applying, and disseminating algorithms, methods, and tools integrating electronic health records (EHR) with genomics. The mission of Dr. Ritchie’s lab (Biomedical and Translational Informatics Laboratory) is to improve our understanding of the underlying architecture of common, complex diseases. The approaches that she and her reseach team take involves the development and application of new statistical, computational, machine learning, and AI methods with a focus on embracing complexity to uncover relationships between multi-omics data, clinical, environmental exposures, and social determinants of health. These meta-dimensional approaches hold the promise of providing a more comprehensive view of genetic, genomic, and phenotypic information.

Dr. Ritchie is also interested in implementation of precision medicine into routine clinical care. Throughout her career, she has participated in research programs focused on the implementation of both pharmacogenomics and genomic medicine. Recent efforts are enriched in the concept of the Learning Health System, whereby the EHR-linked Penn Medicine BioBank is leveraged as a living laboratory to conduct research and then implement the findings to improve clinical care.