Bioinformatics at the University of Louisville
Overview
Bioinformatics, by its nature, is multidisciplinary. At the University of Louisville, we have built a core set of bioinformatics faculty, staff and students from several schools split across the Belknap campus and the Health Sciences Campus. This includes the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Interdisciplinary and Graduate Studies, the School of Medicine, the School of Public Health and Information Sciences, and the Speed School of Engineering.
Mission Statement
The mission of Bioinformatics at the University of Louisville is to develop computational approaches for identifying mechanisms which regulate biological processes and provide broadly enabling technologies to the research community.
Vision Statement
The vision of Bioinformatics at the University of Louisville is to become an integrated multidisciplinary center focusing on understanding how the interactions between cells and systems regulate biological processes.
About Us
Momentum for development of bioinformatics at the University of Louisville can be traced to the establishment of the Kentucky Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network (KBRIN) through a successful grant application to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) in 2001 (P20RR1481, Nigel Cooper, PI). Since that time, faculty with primary research interests in bioinformatics have joined various departments at the University of Louisville, including the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Department of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, Department of Chemistry, Department of Computer Science, and the Department of Mathematics. Additionally, collaborations have been forged with faculty in the Department of Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology to further both biomedical and bioinformatics research. Besides their own independently driven research, bioinformatics faculty are involved in the following funded projects:
-
Center for Environmental Genomics and Integrative Biology (CEGIB) (P30ES014443, Ken Ramos, PI)
CEGIB contains as part of its structure a Bioinformatics, Biostatistics & Computational Biology (BBCB) Facility core. The goal BBCB is to partner with environmental health investigators to aid them in their analyses of the large data-sets produced by the -omics cores. -
Kentucky Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network (KBRIN) (P20RR016481, Nigel Cooper, PI)
The Kentucky Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network (KBRIN) serves the purpose of increasing competitive biomedical research by developing intellectual and physical infrastructure to promote collaborative research networks. KBRIN supports a statewide bioinformatics core. - Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CTSI)
The CTSI Biomedical Informatics group serves to develop a Translational Research Informatics Office (TRIO) and to identify novel bench/bedside/community informatics programs that have proimse for significant translational activity. -
Extension of Informatics Infrastructure to Support Translational and Basic Research (DE-EM0000197, Ted Kalbfleisch and Eric Rouchka, PIs)
The purpose of this two year project is to support young investigators in their work toward independence by supporting student and faculty effort on research consistent with their long term research goals. Seven junior faculty projects are supported via this mechanism. -
Development of a Systems Biology Team (P20RR016481S1, Nigel Cooper, PI)
This ARRA-supported grant is designed to develop a systems biology research team by creating postdoctoral, staff, and student positions with a main focus on designing systems biology research objectives. In addition, a Bioinformatics Seminar Series has been initiated in part from funds for this project.