In The News

 

NCIBI Hosts First Summer Workshop for RCMI Researchers


NCIBI-RCMI Workshop News Release:





Ann Arbor, MI - The NIH National Center for Integrative Biomedical Informatics (NCIBI), housed at the University of Michigan's Center for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, hosted a 2-day Summer Workshop on Translational Bioinformatics for Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) researchers July 29-30, 2009.

Since June 2008, leadership of the RCMI Translational Research Network (RTRN) Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Working Group has been working to identify mechanisms to build and/or strengthen research collaborations on integrative biomedical informatics between RCMI and NCIBI. This 2-day workshop aligns with the current NCRR 5-year Strategic Plan to foster collaborations between RCMI and other NIH networks. Invitations were issued to all RCMI directors to nominate a faculty member at their institutions to attend the workshop. Altogether, fifteen participants from various institutions participated in the inaugural NCIBI-RCMI Summer Workshop on Translational Bioinformatics.

The purpose of the workshop was to provide RCMI investigators with training in the use of NCIBI tools and resources for translational research, and to build research relationships with the goal of expanding informatics resources for the study of health disparities. The agenda consisted of an overview and demonstrations of NCIBI, NCIBI and proteomics resources. Participants also learned about broader programs and resources at the Medical School that can foster collaborative exchanges in research and education. On the first day, RCMI faculty and researchers gave presentations about their own research. There were further opportunities to network with UM researchers at a wine and cheese reception and a dinner.

The first day featured an overview talk by NCIBI PI Professor Brian Athey, followed by a presentation on the NCIBI Driving Biological Problems by NCIBI Senior Scientific Director Prof. Gil Omenn, MD, PhD. Prof. Phil Andrews, a key RCMI collaborator in Proteomics, finished the first day with a keynote on Proteomics Research Opportunities. The second day featured a keynote talk by one of the NCIBI investigators, Dr. Matthias Kretzler on "Systems Biology of Diabetic Nephropathy". The remainder of the second day was devoted to interactive tutorials on NCIBI tools, led by NCIBI Project Manager Dr. Jim Cavalcoli and other NCIBI Faculty and Staff, where participants could follow along with the instructors and help was available to them as they worked through examples and became familiar with the applications. The suite of tools is publicly available at: http://portal.ncibi.org/gateway/toolsAbout.html

Many of the participants stated that they would use these tools in their own research and expressed an interest in having NCIBI repeat the demonstrations at their own institutions. Jackson State University Associate Professor and NCIBI collaborator Raphael Isokpehi stated “the success of this inaugural workshop demonstrates the commitment of the RCMI and the NCIBI to transform the development and application of informatics solutions in translational sciences”. To learn more about the workshop, and to view the full agenda and participant profiles, please visit: http://portal.ncibi.org/gateway/tb_workshop.html
For more information on the RCMI Translational Research Network (RTRN), please visit: http://www.rtrn.net/