TIGR and Virginia Tech Sign Memorandum for New Alliance
A new alliance between TIGR and Virginia Tech University is expected to enhance the Institute's computational and experimental capacity as well as enrich the university's basic research in the life sciences. The Memorandum of Understanding, announced Monday, anticipates joint research projects, shared use of related facilities, adjunct faculty appointments, and opportunities for students to participate in research.
November 8, 2004
Rockville, MD — The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) and Virginia Tech University have signed a memorandum of understanding, creating a new alliance that is expected to enhance TIGR's computational and experimental capacity as well as enrich the university's basic research capacity in the life sciences.
The agreement, announced Monday by Virginia Tech President Charles Steger and TIGR President and Director Claire M. Fraser, anticipates joint research projects, shared use of related facilities, adjunct faculty appointments, and opportunities for students to participate in research.
Building on the strengths of both institutions, it is anticipated that the focus of the joint research projects will be in the areas of microbial, plant, and animal genomics and functional genomics, which have many applications to human health, agriculture, and biodefense.
"There are many areas of mutual interest and complementary capabilities at Virginia Tech and TIGR," said Fraser, who is a professor of pharmacology and microbiology at the George Washington University School of Medicine, as well as TIGR's President. "We are excited about formalizing this working relationship."
Fraser said TIGR bioinformatics scientists anticipate closer links with their counterparts at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute and look forward to working with Virginia Tech's considerable capacity in translational biology and high-end computing, which is important for molecular biology. "Both institutions' ground-breaking development of genomics and informatics tools for the life sciences is an example of how this cooperative effort can provide wider benefits for multiple scientific communities," said Fraser.
Brad Fenwick, vice president for research at Virginia Tech, said: "This is a natural partnership that will enhance the achievements of both the university's and the Institute's researchers. By partnering, we will be able to offer research sponsors more resources and capacity to produce knowledge in a cost-effective and timely fashion."
In a statement, Virginia Governor Mark Warner said, "This agreement between a leading research university and a leading research organization supports Virginia's biotechnology initiative."
TIGR is a not-for-profit research institute whose primary research interests are in structural, functional, and comparative analysis of genomes and gene products from a wide variety of organisms. TIGR scientists have completed the genome sequence of many disease-causing microbes, including those that cause cholera, tuberculosis, malaria, meningitis, syphilis, Lyme disease, anthrax, Q Fever, ulcers, and African sleeping sickness, as well as a number of environmentally important microorganisms. TIGR also played a key role in sequencing the first plant genome, Arabidopsis thaliana, as well as deciphering the genome sequence of rice.
TIGR's bioinformatics department is creating and maintaining gene databases and has produced new software for finding genes in bacteria, plants, parasites, and other organisms, as well as software for identifying other important biological features of genomes. TIGR also operates two centers under contract with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID): the Pathogen Functional Genomics Resource Center, which provides scientists with centralized resources needed to conduct functional genomics studies on a variety of pathogens; and a national Bioinformatics Resource Center, one of six for the study of pathogens that are considered biothreat agents or are associated with emerging or re-emerging infectious diseases.
Virginia Tech has conducted research involving plants and animals since its founding in 1872 and been at the cutting edge of using biotechnology and computational tools to protect animal and human life. The university is home to the Fralin Biotechnology Center and the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute, both of which are multi-million dollar research groups.
Established in 2000 as a Commonwealth of Virginia shared resource, the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech has a research platform centered on understanding the "disease triangle" of host-pathogen-environment interactions. VBI researchers are working on many human, crop, and animal diseases. VBI developed and deployed an informatics infrastructure, called ToolBus/PathPort, which combines information about pathogens with powerful analysis and visualization tools to build upon what is known and aid in rapid detection, identification, and response.
NIAID also awarded VBI and its partners a five-year, $10.3 million contract to establish a national Bioinformatics Resource Center in support of infectious disease research. VBI is also the genomics and bioinformatics core for the 15-university Middle Atlantic Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Virginia Tech's President Steger said, "The partnership with TIGR also greatly expands opportunities for students to work on critical research applications in the life sciences. The success of graduate education program depends upon students having an array of research opportunities."