National Center for Genome Resources

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The National Center for Genome Resources (NCGR), a non-profit research institute. Established in 1994, NCGR is a national provider of bioinformatics software products and information resources that improve the bioscience discovery process.

NCGR's mission is to improve human health & nutrition by translating bioscience research with computing and math. NCGR's vision is to pioneer the use of scientific software and computation to halt diseases and improve nutrition. NCGR's unique approach is to discover solutions to healthcare and nutrition problems by two paths - experimental and computational performed in parallel and iteratively.

NCGR has 11 years experience in:

  • Collaborative development of reliable, adaptable software for bio-scientists
  • Data integration and interactive analysis
  • Extracting discoveries from complex, incomplete data

Key Attributes

1. Extracting discoveries from complex information. NCGR scientists are expert in the use of multi-scale modeling, complex network analysis and inferential statistics to solve practical problems. For example, in 2004 NCGR pioneered a new class of simulations that allow data-driven, dynamic modeling of marine phytoplankton in global carbon cycling. Using these models, we discovered that oceans are highly effective in mitigating the effects of global warming. Despite changes in light, temperature and nutrients that dramatically affect individual species, the total capacity of ocean phytoplankton to sequester carbon remains remarkably constant. This work is funded by the Department of Energy.

2. Collaborative development of reliable, extensible software for bio-scientists. NCGR engineers have unsurpassed experience developing robust, adaptable software for bioscientists. NCGR blends software industry and scientific community standardsto support programs and collaborations. o LIS: LIS is the primary information resource for legume research. This year we designed a â??clickableâ? user interface to help non-experts access DNA sequence data. www.comparative-legumes.org o TAIR: The most widely used, web-based, plant information resource In April 2005 , The Arabidopsis Information Resource, served over a million pages of web content to biologists, a 25% increase over last year. The team also published a manuscript describing functional annotation using controlled vocabularies in Plant Physiology. www.arabidopsis.org o PFGD: A resource for plant-pathogen interactions PFGD now integrates information about an entire kingdom of pathogens, the Oomycetes, and a host plant family, the Solanaceae. In 2004, NCGR developed a gene expression module, allowing researchers to explore plant-pathogen interactions. www.pfgd.org o ISYS: released as open source External developers, such as our development partners at CIMMYT, now have full access to ISYS code. NCGR continues to develop dynamic discovery platforms, such as the comparative genetic map viewer, introduced in a 2004 Plant Molecular Biology publication. 3. Web-enabled data integration and analysis. NCGR is pioneering the development of semantic web technologies and standards for scientists. These next-generation technologies will be critical for accessing and unlocking biological information dispersed across the world-wide-web. A prototype â??Semantic Googleâ?: Funded by the National Science Foundation. The NCGR team developed a prototype that responds to web queries by returning pages, based not just on matching words, but on matching concepts and suitability for tasks. 4. Enriching New Mexico through state-wide education and research partnerships. NCGR is committed to research partnerships. Funded collaborations include those with the University of New Mexico, New Mexico Tech, New Mexico State University, Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratory. The 1st annual New Mexico Bioinformatics Symposium. NCGR hosted the inaugural Symposium of the New Mexcio INBRE consortium, funded by the National Institutes of Health. Over 100 students, faculty and researchers attended. www.nminbre.org 5. Sustainability through grant and contract revenue growth. NCGR is an entrepreneurial research organization, as evidenced by the spin-out of Molecular Informatics, a former NCGR subsidiary. Revenue from federal agency grants and contracts has grown at 30%+ per annum for the last 3 years, and continued this pace in 2004.

NCGR was founded in 1994 with "support from Senator Pete V. Domenici, "as an independent non-profit institute for discovery-driven research in computational biology, medicine, and bioinformatics."[1]

The Genome Sequence DataBase (GSDB) at NCGR "is a direct outgrowth of the Los Alamos National Laboratory component of GenBank. The original project was first conceived by Walter Goad at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in Los Alamos, New Mexico in 1979. From 1982-1992 LANL performed data collection as part of the GenBank contract from NIH/NIGMS. In 1992-1993 LANL performed data collection for NCBI. In 1993 the LANL effort became the Genome Sequence DataBase (GSDB). In August 1994, GSDB moved from LANL to the National Center for Genome Resources in Santa Fe, New Mexico."[2]

Collaborations

Too numerous to count

Management

Board of Directors (2005)

  • Donald Armstrong, M.D., Consultant, Infectious Disease Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; Professor of Medicine, Cornell University Medical College
  • William D. Beavis, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, NCGR
  • Michael A. Grantham, private investor
  • Stephen F. Kingsmore, M.B., C.h.B., B.A.O., President & CEO, NCGR
  • Mary F. Lipscomb, M.D., Professor and Chair, Department of Pathology, Associate Dean, Office of Research, University of New Mexico School of Medicine
  • C. Rick Lyons, M.D., Ph.D., Director of Biodefense, Associate Professor of Medicine, Hematology & Oncology Infection and Inflammation Program, University of New Mexico
  • Marvin Miller, Executive Chairman, Onconova Therapeutics
  • Sandra Panem, Ph.D., Partner, Cross Atlantic Partners
  • Miguel Rios Jr., Ph.D., President & CEO, ORION International Technology
  • Van Romero, Ph.D., Vice President for Research, New Mexico Tech
  • Gloria E. Sarto M.D., Ph.D., Director, UW Center for Women's Health, Meritor Hospital
  • Jon Soderstrom Ph.D., Managing Director, Office of Cooperative Research, Yale University

Contact

National Center for Genome Resources
2935 Rodeo Park Drive East
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505
Phone: 505 982 7840
Phone: 800 450 4854 (WATTS)
Email: info@ncgr.org
URL: http//www.ncgr.org/exec

SourceWatch Resources

External links

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