Award to Support Biomedical Research Training and Data Science
The Kansas INBRE is a State-wide program that seeks to promote interdisciplinary biomedical research, enhance the infrastructure and expertise for biological/chemical data science research, and provide research opportunities for undergraduate student trainees, with the goal of enhancing the future scientific workforce in Kansas.
For over 20 years the program has supported research, and research training at the 3 major academic research institutions in Kansas (KU, KU Medical Center and Kansas State University), and at several primarily-undergraduate institutions. Under the leadership of Dr. Doug Wright at KU Medical Center, the award was recently renewed for another 5 years ("Kansas IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence”, P20 GM103418).
Dr. Brian Ackley, Professor in the Department of Molecular Biosciences, serves as the KU Campus Coordinator for the Kansas INBRE. In this role Dr. Ackley helps place undergraduates into biomedical research labs across several KU departments, and provides funding so they are able to focus on research training, and get the most out of their experiences. Additionally, Dr. Ackley facilitates a range of professional development opportunities for these students. Funds from the Kansas INBRE renewal will enable Dr. Ackley to assist dozens of KU undergraduates in obtaining real-world research experiences in the next 5 years.
Dr. Stuart Macdonald (Professor in the Department of Molecular Biosciences) is a member of the Data Science Core for the Kansas INBRE. A collaborative effort that includes partners at KU Medical Center and Kansas State University, the mission of the Data Science Core is to support genome-scale data science analysis across the entire Kansas INBRE network of institutions. At KU, Dr. Macdonald coordinates efforts to support genomics data analysis with the KU Center for Genomics lead by Dr. Rob Unckless, and through our KU Genomic Data Science Core we offer investigators access to the necessary infrastructure for data science, and training in genomic data science methods.