INDUSTRY

Drexel University and the Greater Philadelphia Bioinformatics Alliance (GPBA) announce that Professor Aydin Tozeren has been awarded the Philadelphia region's first National Institute of Health Roadmap Grant for Short Courses for Interdisciplinary Research Training. The grant - which awards $300,000 over two years - will provide continued funding for one of GPBA's most successful programs in post-baccalaureate education and training, Virtual Institute for Professional Training. The value of the program to both the medical and scientific communities is demonstrated by this NIH Roadmap Grant, which complements support previously received through the prestigious Partnership for Innovation award from the National Science Foundation for the Alliance's educational and collaborative programs. Formed in 2003 and supported by BioAdvance, The Biotechnology Greenhouse of Southeastern Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, the Virtual Institute has become a premier source of continuing education for the region's academic and industry scientists. "On behalf of the region, Drexel University, GPBA and the project's key participants, the Roadmap Grant from NIH is a tremendous honor and will enable us to provide a vital program of study for some of our most promising scientific minds," said Professor Tozeren. "GPBA's primary goal with this project is to arm our workforce to apply advanced technologies to the early detection, accurate diagnosis and individualized treatment of complex diseases such as cancer and diabetes." Continuing education programs, such as the Virtual Institute, ensure life sciences researchers and clinicians are well-versed in the latest scientific advances as they strive to improve human health. In awarding this highly selective Roadmap Grant, NIH continues to recognize the success of GPBA's Virtual Institute and its significant value to the life sciences community. A unique and continuing strength of the program is that Virtual Institute draws its instructors from GPBA member institutions' rich pool of leading experts in each field. In addition to Professor Tozeren, key contributors have included Drs. Don Baldwin, University of Pennsylvania; Michael Ochs, Fox Chase Cancer Center; Greg Gonye, Thomas Jefferson University; David Speicher, Wistar Institute; Andres Kriete, Coriell Institute for Medical Research and Drexel University; Kristen Ardlie, Genomics Collaborative, Inc.; Bahrad Sokhansanj, Drexel University; Mark Lechner, Drexel University; Wade Rogers, Cira Discovery Sciences, Inc.; and Peter Lelkes, Drexel University. The grant funds will be used specifically for short-course format computational laboratory courses in bioinformatics and related subjects. The project will be executed by Drexel University on behalf of the Greater Philadelphia Bioinformatics Alliance (GPBA), a non-profit consortium of many of the Philadelphia region's universities and biomedical research institutes. As the program's director, Tozeren will use the NIH funding to continue the GPBA's Virtual Institute which to date has attracted hundreds of regional graduate students, research scientists, and industry professionals, through intensive short courses in bioinformatics and related topics. Recipients of the granted program's outreach range from advanced graduate students to senior scientists from academia and industry in fields such as engineering, life sciences, computer science, and medicine.