The Forsyth Institute, the world's leader in oral and craniofacial disease research, requests $1,218,232 to renovate 606 ft2 for a new state-of-the-art data center core at its new research facility at 245 First Street, Cambridge, MA. The data center will support the research of the new Center for Discovery at the Host-Biofilm Interface (CHBI) and many of the other basic and clinical research programs at the Institute. This project represents a significant expansion of our data center capabilities as we prepare to host the new 192- core Beowulf Cluster for the Forsyth Bioinformatics Core. An aggressive campaign is currently underway to recruit new young scientists as principal investigators who will synergize with our existing research strengths and will generate dramatic new advances in understanding how humans co-exist with their microbial passengers in health, and how perturbations at the host-biofilm interface lead to disease. These young scientists will have expertise in the following areas: human genetics/genomics and proteomics;salivary biology;microbial-epithelial interactions;ontogeny of the immune system;regulatory mechanisms at mucosal surfaces;establishment of commensalism;microbial-mineralized tissue interactions;and clinical/translational research particularly relating to oral-systemic disease interactions in diabetes, metabolic syndrome, obesity, cardiovascular disease, inflammatory bowel diseases, premature birth, and others. The CHBI will be further integrated as appropriate into the newly funded Harvard-wide CTSC ('CATALYST', http:catalyst.harvard.edu), and the Harvard Center for Systems Biology. The funding at Forsyth that will be impacted by this programmatic expansion is: $14,267,072 (46 active projects), and forty-two (42) pending projects ($12,893,999). To our knowledge, the CHBI will be unique in the field of oral health, and will allow Forsyth to bring its long leadership in this field to a new level. Beginning in the spring of 2010, Forsyth will begin significant renovation of its newly-leased facility located at 245 First Street, Cambridge MA located in the Kendall Square area near MIT. It is expected that renovations will continue through much of the summer and into the Fall. The Institute will lease the space for a minimum of 15 years, with two additional 5-year options. This guarantees our long-term occupancy of the renovated space. Because Forsyth's existing program relocation per se will occur independent of ARRA construction grant funding, this application requests support only for the new data center in preparation for our move. The new data center renovation is 'shovel ready'and must be completed in the Fall of 2010. The project involves some U.S. job creation including an immediate job impact of approximately 11 jobs created should this application be funded.
