Three U of A faculty honored by American College of Medical Informatics
Justin Starren, Jose Fernando Florez-Arango and Vignesh Subbian were recognized for their work in biomedical informatics.
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Two University of Arizona faculty members were recently elected fellows of the American College of Medical Informatics as part the 2025 ACMI class, one of the nation’s highest honors in the field. In addition, one faculty member was recognized as a distinguished fellow. The 24 new fellows and five distinguished fellows will be inducted Nov. 16, 2025, at a ceremonial dinner during the American Medical Informatics Association Annual Symposium.
Dr. Justin Starren is director of the Center for Biomedical Informatics and Biostatistics and a professor at the College of Medicine – Tucson.
Photo by Kris Hanning, U of A Office of Research and Partnerships
The American College of Medical Informatics is an honorific college of elected fellows who have made significant and sustained contributions to the field of biomedical informatics. Election as a distinguished fellow recognizes extraordinary, long-term impact.
Dr. Justin Starren, director of the Center for Biomedical Informatics and Biostatistics, was named a distinguished fellow of the ACMI. The special recognition is reserved for individuals whose sustained contributions have shaped the field of medical informatics over decades.
The U of A will also be represented by two new ACMI fellows: Dr. Jose Fernando Florez-Arango, associate director for education and training at the Center for Biomedical Informatics and Biostatistics; and Vignesh Subbian, interim director of the BIO5 Institute.
“This recognition underscores the University of Arizona’s growing leadership in biomedical informatics and health data science,” said Tomás Díaz de la Rubia, senior vice president for research and partnerships at the U of A. “These three outstanding faculty members exemplify the innovation and dedication that are advancing research and education in this critical field.”
Dr. Jose Fernando Florez-Arango is associate director for education and training at the Center for Biomedical Informatics and Biostatistics and associate professor of practice in the School of Health Professions at the Zuckerman College of Public Health.
Photo by Kris Hanning, U of A Office of Research and Partnerships
Starren, professor of radiology and imaging science at the College of Medicine – Tucson, is a biomedical informatics researcher and data scientist who was elected ACMI fellow in 2020. His research career has focused on the challenges that occur at the boundaries between different domains and on creating new methods that address unmet needs, including exploring the ethical issues involved with technology-enabled research data collection during clinical encounters. Starren led the integration of genomic information and electronic health records to enable precision medicine and developed tools to connect medically underserved populations and academic medical centers.
Florez-Arango, associate professor of practice in the School of Health Professions at the Zuckerman College of Public Health, has focused his career on global health equity and implementation of innovative health information technologies. He is a physician, educator and health informatics expert with experience in implementing digital health technologies in low-resource settings across Latin America, South Asia and beyond. At the Center for Biomedical Informatics and Biostatistics, he leads curriculum development, accreditation efforts and interdisciplinary initiatives in population health informatics.
Vignesh Subbian is interim director of the BIO5 Institute and associate professor of biomedical engineering in the College of Engineering.
Photo by Kris Hanning, U of A Office of Research and Partnerships
Subbian, associate professor of biomedical engineering in the College of Engineering, is a collaborative health systems scientist and informatician who uniquely leverages systems engineering, human factors and computational methods to address sociotechnical issues and opportunities in biomedicine and learning health systems. He is also a dedicated educator and educational researcher with a passion for research training. He serves as a program co-director for three training programs, including the National Library of Medicine supported Placed-based Health Informatics Research Education program. In addition to his role as interim director of the BIO5 Institute, he serves as associate director for the Center for Biomedical Informatics and Biostatistics, where he leads researcher engagement and informatics service cores for multiple large-scale National Institutes of Health initiatives in Arizona.
With these elections, the U of A now has four ACMI fellows, including Dr. Joseph Finkelstein who was elected to the ACMI in 2023.
The ACMI 2025 class was formally announced by the American Medical Informatics Association, which highlighted the inductees’ collective contributions to the future of health care through data, technology and interdisciplinary collaboration. New fellows are elected annually by active members of the ACMI.