Winkelstein is chief medical informatics officer and a professor of pediatrics at the university. He cofounded the medical school's advanced certificate in medical and health informatics program.
The institute facilitates clinical research and the development of novel methods in biomedical informatics. Launched in 2010 with a 415 million grant of services and equipment from Dell, it is a tier II+ secure computing center designed to host mission critical services and computer systems. The institute also serves as a resource for the University of Buffalo Clinical and Translational Research Center.