NICLS: Development of Biomedical Computing and Information Technology Infrastructure

Presented by Simon Sherman

August 15, 2005

• NICLS was established by the Nebraska Board of Regents in October, 2001

• The Center has three member institutions: UNL, UNMC, and UNO. CU is an academic partner of the Center

• Presently, more 44 faculty members from the three UN campuses and CU are participating in the work of NICLS

Mission Statement Facilitate interdisciplinary (Mathematics, Computer

Science, Information Technology, Molecular Biology, Genetics, Biochemistry, Pharmaceutical Science, etc.) collaboration among Nebraska's scientists

Provide Nebraska's researchers, educators, and students with efficient access to Bioinformatics tools and to a growing number of databases on biologically important molecules

Enhance the competitiveness (and thus the ability to attract extramural funding) of ongoing and future research programs in Nebraska

UNL

UNO

CU

UNMCDBS1

WAS1

DBS2

WAS2

W S

Computing Infrastructure:

www.nicls.net

Computing Infrastructure:

Bioinformatics Educational and Training Bioinformatics Educational and Training Laboratory Laboratory

at the Scott Technology Center, Omahaat the Scott Technology Center, Omaha

• Intel-based multiprocessor clusters at UNMC, UNL, UNO and CU were set up and maintained

• 1 Gb high-speed fiber-optic communication line between four campuses was laid

• The Computational Chemistry Facility and Bioinformatics Research Laboratory at UNO, as well as Bioinformatics Shared Resource at UNL and UNMC were established

Examples of Infrastructure Development Activities:

• Workshop, “DNA Microarray Analyses”, was organized

• Short course on Bioinformatics was organized

• Exhibitions and conferences, "Bioinformatics and Biomedical Computing in Nebraska" were organized in Omaha in 2003, 2004, and 2005

• Annual Hawaii International Conference On System Sciences Advanced Computational Approaches and IT Techniques in Bioinformatics (Bioinformatics Minitrack of the Software Technology Track) has been organized in 2004 and 2005

Examples of Educational Activities:

INBRE Content Management and Information Sharing System

(INBRE CMISS)

SOURCES OF EXTERNAL FUNDING:

• NIH: Cancer Center Support Grant;

• NIH COBRE: Nebraska Center for Viral Pathogenesis;

• NIH BRIN: Nebraska Training Network in Functional Genomics;

• NRI: Nebraska Research Initiative.

Future Directions

• Upgrade existing Bioinformatics Infrastructure by adding new clusters and data storage and by linking the clusters at UNMC, UNL, UNO and CU to form the Nebraska Biomedical Computer Grid

• Deploy and disseminate Bioinformatics approaches, LIMS and Content Management and Information Sharing Systems for the use in the Life Science Core Facilities and laboratories