BOSTON AREA MOLECULAR BIOLOGY COMPUTER TYPES (BAMBCT)


http://genetics.mgh.harvard.edu/bambct

Contact: Lance Davidow This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Geographical area included: Metropolitan Boston, MA USA
Goal/Mission: Bioinformatics and Computer usage in Molecular Biology

Leadership: (steering committee) Lance Davidow, Norbert Kremer, Matt Temple

History: Founded in approximately 1990 by Mike Cherry, Will Gilbert and Dave Merberg as a support group of academic and biotech molecular biologists using and administering the Genetics Computer Group program suite on DEC Vax computers. Expanded into all phases of bioinformatics including genomics and proteomics and the associated instrumentation and computer hardware.

Membership size: 104 members on email list

Activities planned and/or past: Monthly informal gatherings. Seminars, workshops and vendor demonstrations scheduled on an ad hoc basis. Serves as knowledge source and mutual support via email.

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GREAT LAKES BIOINFOMATICS CONSORTIUM (GLBC)


www.glbio.org

Contact: Lonnie R. Welch, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Geographical area included: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Quebec, and Wisconsin

Leadership Structure:

• James Cavalcoli, University of Michigan
• Elodie Ghedin, University of Pittsburgh
• Ping Ma, University of Illinois
• Nicholas Provart, University of Toronto
• Lonnie Welch, Ohio University

History: Over the past decade, there have been 3 independent initiatives that have culminated in this proposal to form the Great Lakes Bioinformatics Consortium. Starting in 2002, there was a Michigan based “Great Lakes Bioinformatics Retreat” that was sponsored and hosted by the Michigan Center for Biological Information (MCBI) a Michigan Life Science Corridor funded initiative led by Dr. Brian Athey. This program held yearly retreats, from 2002-2006, with keynote speakers, and student oral presentations; the locations were primarily in Michigan.  There was a board of directors for a proposed Great Lakes Bioinformatics Consortium that first  convened in August, 2004 and consisted of representatives from most of the great lakes bioinformatics programs which are outlined in this proposal. The Consortium did not reach critical mass, and may have been too Michigan-centric; however, there remains a strong interest in regional networking and collaboration and professional engagement.

A second initiative is the Midwest Symposium on Computational Biology and Bioinformatics. MSCBB is an ongoing conference series, which held 1-day meetings in Illinois in 2007 and 2008, attracting over 300 attendees. The meetings included keynote speakers, invited talks, and student poster presentations. Merit based student poster awards were given during the meetings. Registration fees were waived, to encourage the participation of students. Future meetings are planned. The MSCBB Chair is Prof. Ping Ma of University of Illinois, and the conference committee consists of faculty from universities in Indiana, Illinois and Michigan.

A third initiative was created in Ohio. Ohio researchers, educators and industry leaders collaboratively organized the annual Ohio Collaborative Conferences on Bioinformatics (OCCBIO), with its inaugural meeting in June 2006. In August 2007, the OCCBIO conference leadership formally united to form the Ohio Bioinformatics Consortium; OBC leveraged the existing statewide research community to enhance Ohio’s role in bioinformatics education and research. In May 2008 the consortium was awarded $9M from the University System of Ohio and 12 academic institutions. The funds provide scholarships for five years to hundreds of graduate and undergraduate students who study bioinformatics in universities across the state of Ohio.

The OCCBIO meetings were held for five years:

• OCCBIO 2006 – June 2006, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio
• OCCBIO 2007 – July 2007, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
• OCCBIO 2008 – June 2008, University of Toledo and Medical University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio
• OCCBIO 2009 – June 2009, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
• OCCBIO 2010 – June 2010, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

Recognition of the independent emergence and growth of these initiatives in Great Lakes states led to a refocused interest in the formation of a regional organization and meeting that would encompass a broader audience than any of these single meetings. In 2010, after its conference completed the circuit around Ohio’s 5 regions, the leaders of the Ohio Bioinformatics Consortium decided to broaden their OCCBIO to encompass the Great Lakes states and provinces. At the same time, the Michigan leadership was looking to reinvigorate the original GLBR; and the MSCBB organizers were seeking fresh perspectives. Catalyzed by this series of events, the Great Lakes Bioinformatics Conference was born.

Membership size: 500

Activities planned: The Great Lakes Bioinformatics Consortium strives to enhance educational opportunities and
research infrastructure throughout the region, to make the Great Lakes a world leader in bioinformatics and to facilitate new discoveries in data-intensive biological research.

The Annual Research Meeting (GLBIO) will be the initial focus of the GLBC. This meeting will serve as an annual meeting for tutorials, oral and poster presentations of new research. The meeting will also serve as an informal communication and networking forum for professional development of members (faculty and students). We believe that by bringing together the Great Lakes bioinformatics community on a regular basis, many new initiatives will be born.

Based on our experience with similar initiatives, we have defined specific goals.  Future Goals for GLBC:

1. Development of Regional Research Center grant proposals to identify central strengths for research centers in the Great Lakes region and to create funded centers for bioinformatics research. This will include teaching, training, and central resources for bioinformatics analysis and development of new methods.
2. Creating a Great Lakes focused scholarship and training investment; seeking resources from biotech industry to create clear training and professional path development for student trainees for access to both academic and commercial opportunities in bioinformatics as we see the Great Lakes as a high-value, yet often overlooked target for recruitment, retention and expansion of bioinformatics job opportunities.

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MIDSOUTH COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY AND BIOINFORMATICS SOCIETY (MCBIOS)


www.MCBIOS.org

Contacts:
Doris Kupfer This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Geographic Area Included: MidSouth region of the US. This includes the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas.

Upcoming Activities: The Ninth Annual MCBIOS Conference "Dealing with the Omics Data Deluge" will be held in Oxford MS
on February 17-18, 2012

Publications: The Proceedings of the MCBIOS Conferences are published annually in a special issue of BMC Bioinformatics.
http://mcbios.org/content/publications

Goals: The mission of the MidSouth Computational Biology and Bioinformatics Society (MCBIOS) is to foster networking and collaboration, and promote the professional development of our members.

And as stated in the bylaws, we seek to advance the understanding of bioinformatics and computational biology, bring together scientists of various backgrounds and disciplines, facilitate the collaboration of researchers with similar or complementary backgrounds to solve biological, health, and/or medical problems, promote education, inform the general public on the results and implications of current research, and promote other activities that will contribute to the development of bioinformatics and computational biology. The Society will especially support, encourage, and mentor our Student Members.

Leadership Structure
MCBIOS Board of Directors

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , President
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute, FAA, Oklahoma City, OK

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , President-Elect
US Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), Vicksburg, MS

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , Past President
Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Texas A&M University, College Station, TX

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , Treasurer
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute, FAA, Oklahoma City, OK

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , Secretary
Associate Professor, Department of Computer & Information Technology
Arkansas State University

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ., Board Member thru 2012
NCTR, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Jefferson, AR

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ,
University of Missouri Bioinformatics Consortium, Columbia, MO

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ,
NCTR, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Jefferson, AR

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Texas A&M University, College Station, TX

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Mississippi State University, Starkville MS

History:
MCBIOS was formed in 2003 and holds a scientific conference annually, sponsored by one of the member state BIOS organizations.

2003 Little Rock, AR "Building Networks".
2004 Little Rock, AR "Bioinformatics: A Systems Approach".
2006 Baton Rouge LA "Bioinformatics: A Calculated Discovery".
2007 New Orleans LA "Computational Frontiers in Biomedicine".
2008 Oklahoma City OK "Systems Biology - Bridging the Omics".
2009 Starkville, MS "Transformational Bioinformatics: Delivering Value from Genomes".
2010 Jonesboro, AR "Bioinformatics: Systems, Biology, Informatics and Computation".
2011 College Station, TX "Computational Biology and Bioinformatics for a New Decade".

Sponsorship:
MCBIOS receives support from the MidSouth Bioinformatics Center at UALR through the Bioinformatics Core of the The Arkansas IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (Arkansas INBRE) program from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and from the National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR) through a grant from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Last Updated December 14, 2011

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OHIO BIOINFORMATICS CONSORTIUM

The Ohio Bioinformatics Consortium – OBC (formerly known as the Ohio Collaborative Conference on Bioinformatics – OCCBIO)

ohiobioinformaticsconsortium.org/ and www.occbio.org/2009/

Contacts:
Lonnie R. Welch, Stuckey Professor
Director of the Bioinformatics Laboratory
School of Elec. Eng. & Computer Science,
Biomedical Engineering Program,
Molecular and Cellular Biology Program
Ohio University
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
740-593-1575
www.ohio.edu/cidds/welch/

Geographic Area Included: Ohio

Goals and History: The Ohio Bioinformatics Consortium strives to enhance educational opportunities and research infrastructure throughout the state to make Ohio a world leader in bioinformatics and to facilitate new discoveries in data-intensive biomedical research.

We carry out this mission through several activities:

• Developing a statewide, comprehensive bioinformatics curriculum.
• Providing scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students who are studying bioinformatics.
• Performing outreach to encourage K-12 students to pursue careers in bioinformatics.
• Organizing the annual Ohio Collaborative Conference on Bioinformatics (OCCBIO).
• Developing bioinformatics infrastructure to facilitate new discoveries in biomedical research.
• Performing basic research that will lead to better bioinformatics algorithms and models.
• Discovering new knowledge by utilizing bioinformatics capabilities.
• Interacting with the bioinformatics-related industry to understand their needs.
• Facilitating industry internships and research experiences for students.

In August 2007 the OCCBIO conference leadership formally united to form a consortium to leverage the existing statewide research community to enhance Ohio’s national role in the area of bioinformatics. In May 2008 the consortium was awarded $9M from the University System of Ohio and 11 academic institutions. The funds will provide scholarships to 345 graduate and undergraduate students who will study bioinformatics in universities across the state of Ohio.

Leadership Structure and Officers:

The Consortium is led by the founders and Chairs of OCCBIO, Lonnie Welch of Ohio University and Terry Lewis of the Ohio Supercomputer Center. As Consortium Coordinators, Welch and Lewis provide oversight and facilitation for all Consortium activities.

As detailed below, the Coordinators are assisted by a Steering Committee composed of Consortium members who are responsible specific components of the Consortium:

• research and infrastructure:
  • Michael Raymer, Wright State University
  • Ashok Krishnamurthy, Ohio Supercomputer Center
• industry internships and research experiences:
  • Bill Tacon, BioOhio
  • Victor Chan, Air Force Research Laboratory
  • Kari Green-Church, Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center
• curriculum and education:
  • Zhong-Hui Duan, University of Akron
  • Steve Gordon, Ohio Supercomputer Center
  • Helen Piontkivska, Kent State University
• K-12 outreach and recruitment
  • Eric Stahlberg, Wittenberg University
  • Kelly Hall, of Clark State Community College
• scholarship program
  • Sarah Wyatt, Ohio University

The Consortium Steering Committee holds an annual meeting, and also conducts business via quarterly phone conferences that supplement e-mail and phone interactions. Each coordinator leads a subcommittee composed of faculty, staff and students involved with the Consortium.

Additionally, a Scholarship Committee facilitates and coordinates recruitment activities and to ensure successful and timely completion of the educational objectives. The committee includes one member from each of 11 academic institutions:

• Ohio University - Sarah Wyatt (Chair)
• Bowling Green State University - Neocles Leontis
• Case Western Reserve University - GQ Zhang
• Central State University - Anthony Arment
• Clark State Community College - Kelly Hall
• Miami University - Qingshun Quinn Li
• Ralph Regula School for Computational Science - Steve Gordon
• The Ohio State University - Erich Grotewold
• University of Akron - Zhong-Hui Duan
• University of Cincinnati - Bruce Aronow
• University of Toledo - Bob Blumenthal
• Wittenberg University - Eric Stahlberg
• Wright State University - Mike Raymer

The Consortium Advisory Board represents all regions of Ohio; has representatives from academia, government, and industry; and provides guidance to the Coordinators and Steering Committee about all aspects of the Consortium through annual meetings at the Ohio Collaborative Conference on Bioinformatics. The Advisory Board consists of the following:

• Xiu-Feng (Henry) Wan ( Senior Service Fellow at Georgia Institute of Technology and the Center for Disease Control; formerly with Miami University and Program Chair of OCCBIO’07)
• Gwenn Volkert (Associate Professor Computer Science, Kent State University)
• Chun Liang (Assistant Professor of Botany, Miami University)
• GQ Zhang (Associate Professor Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Case Western Reserve University)
• David Wight, (Director, Edison Biotechnology Institute)
• Anthony Dennis (President, BioOhio)
• Sarah Wyatt (Associate Professor, Environmental and Plant Biology, Ohio University and Faculty Advisor, OU Genomics Facility)
• Erich Grotewold, (Associate Professor Botany, The Ohio State University)
• Eric Stahlberg (Director of Computational Science, Wittenberg University)
• Kelly Hall (Director of Institutional Planning , Clark State Community College)
• Josh Ellis (Technical Sales Lead, EMC USA)
• Carla Purdy (Associate Professor ECE, University of Cincinnati )
• Gilbert Pacey ( Associate Dean for Research and Scholarship, Miami University)
• Jack Bantle ( Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies, Wright State University)
• Robert Blumenthal (Professor, Director, Program in Bioinformatics and Proteomics/Genomics, University of Toledo)
• Bruce Aronow (Professor, Co-director Center for Computational Medicine, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center)
• Anthony Johnson (Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Toledo)
• Victor Chan (Senior Research Biologist, Air Force Research Laboratory)

Activities planned and/or past:

Ohio researchers, educators and practitioners have collaboratively organized the annual Ohio Collaborative Conferences on Bioinformatics (OCCBIO) since its inaugural meeting in June 2006. The past and planned OCCBIO meetings are:

• OCCBIO 2006 – June 2006, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio (102 registered attendees) (www.occbio.org/2006/index.shtml)
• OCCBIO 2007 – July 2007, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio (164 registered attendees) (www.occbio.org/2007/index.shtml)
• OCCBIO 2008 – June 2008, University of Toledo and Medical University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio (198 registered attendees)
• (www.occbio.org/2008/index.shtml)
• OCCBIO 2009 – June 2009, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (http://www.occbio.org/2009/)
• OCCBIO 2010 – June 2010, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
• OCCBIO 2011 – June 2011, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio

OKLAHOMA BIOINFORMATICS SOCIETY (OKBIOS)


www.okbios.org

Contact(s):
President: Jonathan Wren, Ph.D. - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Vice-President: Yuriy Gusev, Ph.D. - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Goal/Mission: Foster networking and collaboration for researchers and students interested in bioinformatics, whether from a theoretical standpoint (i.e. advancing bioinformatics methods/techniques/research) or an applied one (i.e. using existing methods/techniques). On a more day-to-day basis, we hope to develop a web portal that is of use to students/post-doctoral fellows seeking jobs and research opportunities as well as faculty members seeking funding, training materials, and potential sources of collaboration.

Geographical area: Oklahoma

Structure:
Officers:
President: Jonathan Wren, Ph.D. - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Vice-President: Yuriy Gusev, Ph.D. - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Candidates for officer positions are nominated by members, candidates need to have at least 2 nominations to be considered for office. Members then vote on all candidates for each officer position in an open forum by raising their hands, and officers are elected by popular vote.

History:
Founded April 28, 2004 by Jonathan Wren and Yuriy Gusev.
Informatics-based components to conducting biomedical research are becoming more prevalent world-wide and Oklahoma is no exception, having a world-class genome sequencing facility at OU, microarray facilities at OU, OSU, and TU, metabolomics facilities at SRNF, and proteomics facilities at OUHSC. There is a great deal of interest among Oklahoma researchers in developing and enhancing informatics methods to gather, analyze and model data being generated state-wide.

Membership:
As of June 17, 2008 we have 72 members.

Membership dues: None yet.

Activities planned and/or past:
We have occasional seminars at OUHSC on bioinformatics-related topics including Systems Biology. Annually, we either have planned our own conferences (OKBIOS 2004, OKBIOS 2005, MCBIOS 2008), or sponsored travel to MCBIOS.

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ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGIONAL CENTER FOR COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY


www.cudenver.edu/ccb

Contact: Harvey J. Greenberg This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Mailing Address: Harvey J. Greenberg, Director, Center for Computational Biology; Mathematics Dept -- Campus Box 170; University of Colorado at Denver; PO Box 173364; Denver, CO 80217-3364

Structure: Academic and Industrial Associates; free for students

Geographical area included: Rocky Mountain States (NM, CO, WY, MT, and more)

Previous activities: Multiday workshops, Lecture series, Problem solving clinics. See web site for more details.

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VANCOUVER BIOINFORMATICS USER GROUP


www.vanbug.org/

Contact: Stefanie Butland

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Mailing Address:
VanBUG
c/o Stefanie Butland
Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics
950 West 28th Avenue
Vancouver BC
V5Z 4H4

Geographical area included: British Columbia Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island (by video conference of monthly meetings)

Goal/Mission: VanBUG (Vancouver Bioinformatics Users Group) is an association of researchers, other professionals and students in the B.C. Lower Mainland who have an interest in the field of bioinformatics.Through monthly presentations we present our work, ask questions,
share ideas, tips and tricks.

Leadership: Stefanie Butland / Francis Ouellette / Ryan Brinkman / Stephen Montgomery

Year founded and brief history: VanBUG is an original idea from Ryan Brinkman and Stefanie Butland in 2001. This site is designed and maintained by Scott McMillan ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) based on original ideas from Ryan, Stefanie and Francis Ouellette, and the added support of Stephen Montgomery.

Membership size and services : Monthly meetings are attended by >150 bioinformatics-inclined individuals who listen to invited speakers and discuss topics of interest at post-talk mixers.

Acitivites planned and/or past:Monthly meetings are scheduled and displayed at www.vanbug.org/meetings/ and have attracted such luminaries as Lincoln Stein, John Quackenbush, Sean Eddy and Nat Goodman.

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