Philip Bourne, an Australian bioinformatician and writer, died on March 8, 2026, at age 72.
Philip Eric Bourne was the Stephenson Chair of Data Science, director of the School of Data Science and professor of biomedical engineering, and served as the first associate director for data science at the National Institutes of Health. His work there included managing the Big Data to Knowledge initiative.
He also held positions at the University of California, San Diego, and contributed to textbooks. Bourne was a supporter of open-access literature and software, and his interests included structural biology, medical informatics, information technology, structural bioinformatics, scholarly communication and pharmaceutical science.
Philip Eric Bourne (22 March 1953 – 8 March 2026) was an Australian bioinformatician, non-fiction writer and businessman. He was the Stephenson Chair of Data Science, director of the School of Data Science, Professor of Biomedical Engineering and the first associate director for data science at the National Institutes of Health, where his projects include managing the Big Data to Knowledge initiative, and formerly associate vice chancellor at UCSD. He contributed to textbooks and was a strong supporter of open-access literature and software. His diverse interests spanned structural biology, medical informatics, information technology, structural bioinformatics, scholarly communication and pharmaceutical science. His papers are highly cited with an h-index above 80. With over 100,000 citations, he was one of the University of Virginia’s most cited researchers.