The National Centers for Biomedical Computing (NCBCs) are part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health plan to develop and implement the core of a universal computing infrastructure that is urgently needed to speed progress in biomedical research. Their mission is to create innovative software programs and other tools that will enable the biomedical community to integrate, analyze, model, simulate, and share data on human health and disease.
Recognizing the potential benefits to human health that can be realized from applying and advancing the field of biomedical computing, the Biomedical Information Science and Technology Initiative (BISTI) was launched at the NIH in April 2000. This initiative is aimed at making optimal use of computer science and technology to address problems in biology and medicine. The full text of the original BISTI Report is available.[1]
As of April 2016, the web site for the National Centers for Biomedical Computing (http://www.ncbcs.org) is no longer managed by that organization, though many of the centers still are supported.[citation needed]