Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) is powering the field of Genomics and increasingly permeating all aspects of biosciences research and clinical practice. This development has triggered a huge need for data analysis skills among researchers and professionals. As biosciences graduate programs and also biomedical professional schools are rapidly adapting their curricula towards a greater emphasis on quantitative analysis skills, it has become apparent that the current pool of graduate and medical/pharmacy school applicants who have an understanding and hands-on experience in quantitative analysis of `omic datasets remains exceedingly shallow. Indeed, without prior computational biosciences research experience it is difficult to evaluate applicants for their aptitude in quantitative analysis skills. In this post-genome era of biosciences research, a lack o aptitude in quantitative analysis skills will hamper graduate students and biomedical researchers through their careers. The proposed research education plan is addressing this need by providing potential applicants of graduate and professional schools with a Summer Program focused on NGS data analysis and statistics, culminating in a capstone research project in the area of computational genomics to apply these skills and document proficiency. The proposed summer undergraduate summer course in hands-on computational genomics leverages existing infrastructure at UCLA's QCB Collaboratory and adapts and extends these to train both the likely applicants of graduate and biomedical professional schools, as well as the next generation of Big Data educator-scientists by training postdoctoral fellows in workshop teaching, and by disseminating the tools and infrastructure to other institutions.

Public Health Relevance

Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) is powering the field of Genomics and increasingly permeating all aspects of biosciences research and clinical practice. This development has triggered a huge need for data analysis skills among researchers and professionals. As biosciences graduate programs and biomedical professional schools are rapidly adapting their curricula towards a greater emphasis on quantitative analysis skills, the proposed research education plan aims to 1) to develop a summer workshop for undergraduates that will inspire and empower a diverse group to tackle the coming needs for genomic analysis, and 2) to develop and distribute educational materials and resources that can be used by biomedical students, researchers and educators for instruction in sharing, mining, and analyzing NGS and other types of genomic data, which in turn will advance the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, and promote public health.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB)
Type
Education Projects (R25)
Project #
5R25EB022364-02
Application #
9150643
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1)
Program Officer
Baird, Richard A
Project Start
2015-09-30
Project End
2018-06-30
Budget Start
2016-07-01
Budget End
2017-06-30
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2016
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of California Los Angeles
Department
Microbiology/Immun/Virology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
092530369
City
Los Angeles
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
90095