? BIOINFORMATICS SHARED RESOURCE The Bioinformatics Shared Resource (BSR) provides Cancer Center (CC) members with access to state-of- the-art technology for analysis of high dimensional datasets involving next-generation sequencing, microarray, proteome and metabolome platforms, as well as integration of multi-omics results. The BSR develops algorithms, computational tools and databases ideally suited for the quantitative analysis of a wide variety of experimental questions in cancer research. Services offered by the BSR include: (i) statistical analyses and computational modeling; (ii) development of advanced bioinformatics tools for integrative cancer biology; and (iii) data management. The BSR has undergone significant growth in expertise and capabilities during the last Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) budget cycle. This was in response to the large thematic faculty recruitment in the CC, the expansion of computational-intensive research themes (cancer metabolism, phenotype profiling) and the growing need for high-dimensional data analysis across multiple technologies. Rehman Qureshi, Ph.D., Harsh Dweep, Ph.D. and Hideki Tanizawa, Ph.D. were recruited to the BSR staff during the last CCSG budget cycle to expand computational expertise; Wen-Hwai Horng, M.S. led the synergistic integration of system administration with a reorganized Wistar Information Technology (IT) Department, and a data analysis pipeline was developed synergistically with the Genomics, Proteomics and Molecular Screening Shared Resources to ensure seamless flow of data and appropriate quality control, feedback and troubleshooting. BSR staff and the Scientific Director are located within dry laboratory space in the Center for Systems and Computational Biology, next to Biostatistics faculty and post-doctoral fellows with strong interests in computational biology. The central location of the BSR facilitates scientific exchange and collaborations, thereby increasing the overall level of analytic approaches and quality of results. During the last CCSG budget cycle, CC members from all three Programs have extensively utilized BSR services contributing to a broad portfolio of cancer-related publications and grant awards. As an additional measure of the critical impact of its services, the BSR engages in productive collaborations with neighboring academic Institutions and Cancer Centers including the University of Pennsylvania, Children?s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), Fox Chase Cancer Center, Lankenau Institute for Medical Research, and Drexel University. The expansion and refinement of bioinformatics tools of the last CCSG budget cycle have ideally positioned the BSR for state-of- the-art management of complex datasets and emerging technologies in sync with the recent CC expansion.
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