The Genomics Core Facility (GCF) was created in 2006 by combining two existing institutional cores - the UCCRC-supported DNA Sequencing and Genotyping Facility and the Functional Genomics Facility - with the genomics-related bioinformatics services previously provided by the developing Biomedical Informatics Facility. These resources have become so integral to cutting-edge research in the biological sciences that essentially every laboratory-based investigator in the UCCRC will access them on a regular basis. While these facilities have previously operated independently, their functions overlap in complementary and necessary ways. The merger into a single, integrated Core, a task that will be completed with co-localization in dedicated space in the Knapp Center for Biomedical Discovery (KCBD; a new building which will be completed in 2008), will result in significant benefit to investigators. Over 82 peer-reviewed UCCRC investigators across all six Scientific Programs routinely use the combined Functional Genomics and DNA Sequencing and Genotyping Facilities, representing 44% of Facility usage. The Facility provides state-of-the-art microarray, DNA sequencing, and genotyping platforms with specialized databases for storing, managing, and manipulating both clinical information (phenotypes) and diverse types of genetic and genomic data (genotypes). Expert assistance in the detection technologies, as well as adapting the resulting data to modern database solutions using high-speed specialized hardware and sophisticated commercial and academic software tailored for genomics and bioinformatics research will provide UCCRC investigators who use the GCF the highest standards of data acquisition, protection, confidentiality, and HIPAA compliance currently available to academic researchers. The GCF is aimed towards biomedical researchers who are generally unfamiliar with whole genome and bioinformatics approaches, as well as experts seeking more sophisticated hardware, software, programming, or database solutions, or seeking to facilitate interdisciplinary collaborations. Major goals of the GCF are to provide investigators with scientific and technical staff who can assist with or collaborate on individual projects, provide an educational program that allows investigators to seek their own levels of expertise and sophistication in a given application, and raise awareness of new directions and major discoveries in the areas of genomics and bioinformatics.
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