NIH-funded investigators at the University of Maryland, Baltimore have scientific need for a MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer for high throughput single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis. These investigators, whose research would be greatly advanced through access to this technology include: (I) Alan Shuldiner (Genetics of diabetes, osteoporosis, and longevity in the Amish; diabetes pharmacogenomics), (2) Frederick Brancati (Genetic epidemiology of diabetes), (3) Stephen Meltzer (molecular genetics/genomics of inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer), (4) Michael Miller (Genetics of low HDL syndromes), (5) Braxton Mitchell (Genetics of osteoporosis in Mexican Americans), (6) J. Glenn Morris, Jr. (Population biology of surface polysaccharides in cholera), and (7) Christopher Plowe (Genetic mechanisms of drug resistant malaria and host defense). In addition, there are 6 minor users of this technology and several additional investigators who will benefit from access to this technology as logical next steps in their current research. We have determined that although mass spectrometers for small molecule and protein analyses are available on campus or at nearby institutions, none of these instruments have the specialized hardware or software required for high-throughput SNP analysis. The high throughput SNP analysis MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer will be housed at the Genomics Core Facility at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, which is located in newly renovated state-of-the-art laboratory space on the 4th floor of Howard Hall. Expertise and operational oversight will be provided by Drs. Colin Stine and Nicholas Ambulos, Directors of the Genomics and Biopolymer Core Facilities, and Dr. Alan Shuldiner (molecular geneticist and P.1. of this application). Administrative oversight will be supplied by the Genomics Core Facility?s Scientific Advisory Committee, an established committee which meet regularly. Ongoing costs of operation will be defrayed by the users of the equipment and by a generous commitment from the Dean of the School of Medicine. The requested MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer will provide the capability to perform well over 1,000,000 SNP genotypes per year. This capability is not presently available to researchers at the University. The technology will be of great benefit to a large number of NIH-funded projects and researchers, opportunities and will greatly accelerate the pace of discovery in this post-genomic era.
