The Southeast Resource Center for Integrated Metabolomics (SECIM) integrates existing strengths to create a comprehensive resource for basic and clinical scientists to obtain state-of-the-art metabolomics data and analyses. The SECIM Promotion and Outreach (P&O) Core is co-directed by Dr. Steven Smith, a clinical investigator and Scientific Director ofthe Sanford-Burnham Translational Research Institute in Orlando, and Dr. Michael Conlon, Chief Operating Officer of the UF CTSI and PI of VIVO, a system for scholarly networking and discovery. P&O is responsible for connecting users to SECIM services and science, and it has established several aims to accomplish this goal. P&O will establish the SECIM brand by establishing web-based and social media outreach, building new institutional collaborations and a larger user base, and ensuring that SECIM is represented at major meetings and conferences. P&O will coordinate educational activities that will train new users in the analytical tools and analysis offered by SECIM. This will include the development of online educational resources as well as the annual SECIM Metabolomics Workshop, which will include general introductions to technologies as well as more focused offerings for specific groups, such as bioinformatics for biologists or clinicians. These workshops represent a critical interface between SECIM analytical cores, bioinformatics, and users. Pilot &Feasibility (P&F) projects will be administered through the P&O Core, which will capture all metrics such as publications, meeting presentations, new grants, etc., for both P&F projects and general SECIM users. The funds available for P&F projects are significantly enhanced through matching funds from several groups at UF, allowing more studies to be done through SECIM in the early years of growth. The P&F projects are a core component ofthe SECIM business model, as described in the Administrative Core. P&O will help to connect the network of SECIM users to enhance the biomedical impact of metabolomics research.
The major goal of metabolomics is the measurement and characterization of metabolites from living organisms, including people. Small molecule metabolites are sensitive to disease, treatment, and many environmental factors, and they can be used as indicators of disease in diagnosis or as markers to assess the outcome of treatment.
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