AC 2007-1200: A PROJECT-CENTRIC APPROACH FOR CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE IN BIOINFORMATICS

Rapid advances in scientific engineering and computer technologies have facilitated the generation of a vast amount of research data. The integration of knowledge from various fields such as computer science, mathematics, chemistry, and biology has resulted in a vast opportunity for creating new research environments based upon cyberinfrastructure (CI). We describe here two projects that were carried out to train the current scientists as well as future workforce to harness the full power of CI for discovery, learning, and innovation across and within all areas of science and engineering. First, the Training Education Advancement and Mentoring (CI-TEAM) demonstration project focused on preparing the future scientific workforce through development and implementation of an interdisciplinary bioinformatics course. Central to the course is a project-centric teaching paradigm to engage students. In this project, the faculty and their students at Bluefield State College (BSC) were introduced to the concepts of CI. The course modules were further modified by BSC to fit the students’ and training objectives. We report here the first implementation and assessment of the CI course using BSC’s Center for Applied Research and Technology (CART) Course Management Service (CMS). The second project was carried out to involve current scientists through similar project-centric approach using the concepts of CI. The Bioinformatics and Genomics Research Core (BGRC) at VBI, as part of the Mid-Atalantic Regional Center of Excellence (MARCE) provided training and support to over hundred researchers working in the area of emerging infectious diseases to enable them in generation, storage, analysis and/or interpretation of ‘omic data. The effective interaction has enhanced discovery of new knowledge as well as feedback for infrastructure development.