LeadershipLawrence Cornett, Ph.D., University of AR for Medical Sciences

Helen Beneš, Ph.D., University of AR for Medical SciencesDonald Bobbitt, Ph.D., University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

Mary Good, Ph.D., University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Caroline Miller-Robinson, B.S. – Project CoordinatorAlice R. Smith, B.A. – Special Projects

Founded October 2001 by

3-year $6,000,000 Grant Award from NIH NCRR’s IDeA Program

IDeA StatesIDeA States

Purpose of BRIN: to promote biomedical research infrastructure

in IDeA States (NIH/NCRR)

Arkansas

Rank*

*NSF/NIH

Total R&D (2000) $ 454,401 42

Academic R&D (2000) $ 130,894 40

Total R&D/GSP (2000) 0.67 47

($$ in thousands)*

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

2000 2001 2002

NIH

Fund

ing

(mill

ions

of

dolla

rs)

Institutions Involved in Arkansas BRIN

Arkansas State University

University of Arkansasat Pine Bluff

Hendrix College

University of Central Arkansas

University of Arkansas

at Monticello

Lyon College

Arkansas Tech University

Ouachita Baptist University

UALR

UAMS

UAF

Harding University

John Brown University

Henderson State University

Arkansas BRIN Organization

• Expand biomedical research opportunities for undergraduate faculty and students through collaborations with graduate research institutions in Arkansas

• Stimulate more proposals for federal grants in the biomedical sciences from Arkansas scientists

• Advance statewide expertise in the rapidly developing disciplines of bioinformatics, genomics, proteomics and digital microscopy

BioinformaticsCore

AdministrativeCore

Recruitment/Mentoring

Core

BiotechnologyCore

Steering Committee

External Advisory

Committee

Administrative Core

• Develop website, http://BRIN.UAMS.edu

• Develop promotional materials

• Promote collaborations and participation in

the Arkansas BRIN through outreach

activities

• Provide support for other Cores

Presentations: • Science Policy• Biotechnology Company

Sales• Government Research• Academic Research

Student Career DayApril 2002 & April 2003 – Total of 102 undergraduate students

representing 11 undergraduate universities & colleges in Arkansas

Outreach Activities

Grant Writing Workshop

• Pharmaceutical

Research• Pharmaceutical sales• Scientific

Correspondence• Patent Law

June 27, 2003 – 23 BRIN faculty Keynote speaker Anthony Coelho, Jr., PhD, Review Policy Officer, NIH

Concurrent workshops: • Grant writing for success• Mock Study Session• Peer Review Process

• An Eye on the Clock – Time

Management• Dos & Don’ts of Grant Writing• IRB & IACUC

Biotechnology Core

• Enhance existing facilities

• Expand research opportunities for undergraduate faculty and students through access to instrumentation and expertise

• Advance statewide expertise in the rapidly developing disciplines of genomics, proteomics and digital microscopy

• Sponsor workshops to educate researchers in different disciplines

Genomics, Proteomics and Digital Microscopy Facilities

Proteomics WorkshopUniversity of Arkansas,

FayettevilleJune 2003

cDNA Microarray Core Facility

Proteomics Facilities

Digital Microscopy FacilityOnline Tutorial

July 2003

UAMS Facility UAF Facility

Microarray Working Group - Bimonthly Meetings

Microarray Symposium for BRIN Fellows, June 2002

BioinformaticsBioinformatics Core Core

Central goal:to create a critical mass of faculty and

support staff with expertise in bioinformatics &

to facilitate their communication & interaction to meet needs of the AR research community

Director: Mary Good, Ph.D. Associate Directors: Steve F. Jennings, Ph.D. –

EducationGary Thompson, Ph.D. – Research

Definitions for BIOINFORMATICS:

• a novel discipline integrating computer and information science to acquire, organize, store, analyze, and visualize biological and biomedical data

• a discipline building upon computational biology to develop and apply methods for data analysis, mathematical modeling and computational simulation techniques to study biological systems

• Recruit Bioinformatics Faculty UAF, UALR & UAMS

• Develop a Joint Graduate Program in BioinformaticsUALR, UAF, UAMS

• Establish Access Grid StudiosTo facilitate interactions among Arkansas BRIN institutions

Bioinformatics Core

Faculty RecruitmentsFaculty Recruitments

• Tom Kieber-Emmons, Ph.D. to UAMS

Director of Basic Breast Cancer Research

http:/bioinformatics.uams.edu

Established The Bioinformatics Center

• Steve L. Jennings, Ph.D. to UALR

Associate Director of BRIN’S Bioinformatics CoreEstablished the

MidSouth Regional Center for Bioinformatics

ArkansasAccess Grid Conference

CentersUniversity of Arkansas at Little

Rock

University of ArkansasHoused at Mullins LibraryEst. completion Fall 2003

Access Grid Conference Centers under construction

Arkansas State UniversityHoused at Dean B. Ellis

LibraryEst. completion Fall 2003

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

Recruitment & Mentoring Core

• Support recruitment of faculty to undergraduate institutions

• Provide mentored research opportunities for undergraduate faculty

• Provide summer research opportunities for undergraduate students

Students select a research lab

Arkansas BRIN provides• Stipend• Housing/Travel Allowance• Research Supply Budget

Students agree to• Present a poster at Arkansas BRIN Research

Day• Prepare a research paper

Mentored Student Fellowships

Summer 2003 – 16 Funded

UAPB

ASU

Lyon

UCA

Hendrix

UAF

OBU

UAM

UALR

Mentored Student Success

2003 – B.S. from UALR in

Management Information Systems & Business Administration

2003 – hired full-time by Microarray Core Facility (UAMS)

to interface databases & work with Bioinformatics Center

Nikiya Meeks -

2002 BRIN Summer Fellow

UAPB

ASU

Lyon

UCA

Hendrix

JBU

OBU

Faculty Recruitment to Undergraduate

Institutions

Arkansas BRIN provides: A startup package

Undergraduate school agrees to

• A tenure-track faculty appointment with an institutional (9-month) salary commitment

• A commitment to sufficient protected time for faculty development of a research program

Faculty agree to• Commitment to developing a research program • Involvement in the Arkansas BRIN• Involve students in research

Mentored Faculty Fellowships

Faculty & Mentor prepare proposal

Arkansas BRIN provides:• Stipend• Housing/Travel Allowance • Research Supply Budget

Faculty agree to:• Build long term relationship with

mentor• Involve undergraduate students in

research

UAPB

ASULyon

UCA

Hendrix

JBU

OBU

Harding

HSU

ATU

Summer & Academic-Year – 20 Funded

Mentored Faculty Successes

• Pradip Bandyopadhyay, Ph.D. - Professor, Hendrix CollegeReceived a fundable score for an NIH AREA Grant to continue research started with Arkansas BRIN funding

• Mark Sutherland, Ph.D. - Associate Professor, Hendrix College Summer research continued with funding from mentor’s NSF supplement

• Philip Jemilohun, Ph.D. - Assistant Professor, Recruited to UAPBReceived a fundable score for an NIH AREA Grant

• Anne Grippo, Ph.D. and Roger Buchanan, Ph.D. - Associate Professors, AR State University Research now being funded by the Arkansas Biosciences Institute

Arkansas Biomedical Research Infrastructure

Network

UAM

UAPB

UAMSUALR

Hendrix

ASUUAF Lyon

OBU

UCA

HSU

JBU

HardingHendrix

ATU

MidSouth Regional Center for Bioinformatics

• Established by funding from AR BRIN & UALR’s CyberCollege

Steven F. Jennings – Executive DirectorRoger Hall – Technical DirectorLisa Henderson – Managing Director

• Equipment – Sun Microsystems (matching grant)

• Workshop on Programming Skills for Bioinformatics Software

4 sessions, June – August 2003: “Use of perl and bioperl”

• NSF EPSCoR grant proposal to fund outreach programs

• Plans for I2 connection to UAMS to support Oracle database & Spotfire Microarray Analysis software

• Jointly offered by UAMS & UALR Faculty

• Exploiting Unique Expertises of Each Campus:Information & Computer Science; BiostatisticsBiomedical Research

• Curriculum built of currently taught and new courses

• Lab rotations in four Core Areas – bioinformatics, life sciences, biostatistics, computer & information sciences

• M.S., Ph.D. degrees or Advanced Professional Certificate

Joint Graduate Program in Bioinformatics