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News from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
UAMS,
Partners Receive $6 Million for Biomedical Research Network
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SEPT. 28, 2001 | The University of
Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and two partner campuses have
received a $6 million, three-year grant to create a network of
high-powered research laboratories and expand Arkansas’s
biotechnology workforce.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH)
awarded the grant to UAMS to form the network with the University of
Arkansas at Fayetteville (UAF) and the University of Arkansas at
Little Rock (UALR). Each campus will bring separate, complementary
strengths to the project, which Director Lawrence E. Cornett, Ph.D.,
predicts will enhance the biomedical research resources in Arkansas
and improve the state’s position in the biotechnology industry. (See
examples of the research the network will foster in a video.)
UAMS is the state’s leading institution for health-related research,
with established groups of scientists in most major fields of interest
to the NIH. (See more information at Current
Research at UAMS.) UAF is a major site for theoretical and
applied research and recently earned the highest classification as a
research institution from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement
of Teaching. Meanwhile, UALR recently established the George W.
Donaghey College of Information Science and Systems Engineering and is
developing interdisciplinary academic and research programs in
bioinformatics.
The new project, called a Biomedical
Research Infrastructure Network (BRIN), will have three major goals:
to expand biomedical research opportunities for undergraduate faculty
and students through collaborations with graduate institutions in
Arkansas;
to stimulate more proposals from
Arkansas scientists for federal grants in the biomedical sciences; and
to advance statewide expertise in the
rapidly developing disciplines of bioinformatics, genomics, proteomics,
and digital microscopy, as related to biomedical research and the
biotechnology industry.
Bioinformatics
is the emerging discipline that uses powerful computational
resources for analyzing, storing, and communicating large volumes of
biological information from genomic and proteomic research. This
discipline includes database development, data mining, and many other
applications of computer technology to biological problems.
Genomics is a discipline
that identifies genes, their interactions, and their effects on
biological processes. Genomics promises to accelerate the development
of new approaches to treating human diseases.
Proteomics
is a discipline involving the characterization of proteins, their
structure, and function. Through identification of proteins and
understanding their biological function, proteomics proposes to
determine their role in human health and disease.
Digital
microscopy allows researchers to locate macromolecules within
cells and tissues, thereby better assessing their function in normal
and diseased states.
The partner universities will offer
courses in bioinformatics, technical workshops, and summer research
experiences for faculty and undergraduate students. With more
firsthand experience at sophisticated biomedical research,
undergraduate faculty at many campuses in Arkansas will be able to
offer more courses, preparing their students for graduate work in
biomedical and biotechnology fields.
Stimulating more grant-funded basic
research projects through the BRIN will boost the state’s economy.
Such projects are important for recruiting top faculty and students to
university campuses and for stimulating biomedical research by
individual scientists. Thus, they have a “trickle down” effect
that is beneficial educationally and economically. New research
findings and greater availability of sophisticated research equipment
also should be valuable to the poultry, rice, and aquaculture
industries.
The following scientists will direct
the project:
Lawrence E. Cornett, Ph.D.
Director, Arkansas BRIN
Professor,
Department
of Physiology and Biophysics, College of Medicine, UAMS
Coordinator,
UAMS Graduate Program in Physiology and Biophysics
Helen Beneš, Ph.D.
Associate Director and Director
of Biotechnology, Arkansas BRIN
Assistant Professor, Department
of Anatomy and Neurobiology, College of Medicine, UAMS
Donald R. Bobbitt, Ph.D.
Director of Recruitment and
Mentoring, Arkansas BRIN
Associate Dean for Research and Sciences Fulbright College of Arts and
Sciences, UAF
Charlotte A. Peterson, Ph.D.
Genomics Leader, Arkansas BRIN
Professor, Department of Geriatrics, College of Medicine, UAMS
Kevin D. Raney, Ph.D.
Proteomics Leader, Arkansas BRIN
Associate Professor, Department
of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine,
UAMS
Richard C. Kurten, Ph.D.
Microscopy Leader, Arkansas BRIN
Professor, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, College of
Medicine, UAMS
Mary L. Good, Ph.D.
Interim Director of
Bioinformatics, Arkansas BRIN
Donaghey University Professor and Dean, College of of Information
Science and Systems Engineering
UALR
Gary A. Thompson, Ph.D.
Associate Director of
Bioinformatics, Arkansas BRIN
Associate Professor, Department of Applied Science, College of
Information Science and Systems Engineering, UALR
Jung H. Kim, Ph.D.
Associate Director of
Bioinformatics, Arkansas BRIN
Professor, Department of Systems Engineering, College of Information
Science and Systems Engineering, UALR
The Arkansas Science and
Technology Authority, a state agency, has committed $600,000
to the project. Other institutions in the state, including the
University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Arkansas State University, the
University of Central Arkansas, Hendrix College, the Arkansas School
for Mathematics and Sciences, and the National Center for
Toxicological Research, may participate in the network.
Links
on This Page
Biotechnology
Meeting: http://www.uams.edu/today/071901/biotech.htm
Southwestern Bell Gift:
http://www.uams.edu/info/NewsReleases/brinkley.htm
Video: Cellular and Molecular Research:
http://www.uams.edu/today/092701/video.htm
Current Research: http://www.uams.edu/research/
Department of Physiology: http://www.uams.edu/physiology/phystitle.htm
Department of Anatomy: http://anatomy.uams.edu/
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology: http://www.uams.edu/biochem/biochem.htm
Arkansas Science and Technology Authority: http://www.state.ar.us/asta/
©
2001 University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). A single copy
of these materials may be reprinted for noncommercial personal use
only. “UAMS,” “UAMS Medical Center,” “UAMS Online,”
“UAMS Today,” “uams.edu,” and “Here’s to Your Health”
are marks of UAMS.
08/08/03 |
