Submitted: July 29, 2014 Funding Period: May 1, 2015 – April 30, 2020 Study Section Review: November 2014 Council Meeting: January/February 2015

Administrative Core Bioinformatics Core Research Technology Core Developmental Research Project Program

Specific Aim 1. Provide overall operational support to the network (i.e., provide budgetary and fiscal services, organize and conduct Steering Committee and External Advisory Committee meetings). Specific Aim 2. Provide scientific leadership to coordinate research activities within the Arkansas INBRE’s thematic scientific focus (i.e., training, mentoring, career development). Specific Aim 3. Broaden opportunities for undergraduate participation in research in Arkansas, regardless of the location of the student’s home or educational institution. Director: Larry Cornett, UAMS

Specific Aim 4. Foster statewide networking and communication among INBRE programs and participants. Specific Aim 5. Support programs to expand participation by members of underrepresented minority groups in the Arkansas INBRE. Specific Aim 6. Represent the Arkansas INBRE in the national and regional networks of IDeA programs.

Administrative Core Bioinformatics Core Research Technology Core Developmental Research Project Program

Specific Aim 1. Provide training in bioinformatics to support biomedical research across Arkansas. Specific Aim 2. Provide bioinformatics research support and consulting services to investigators in the Arkansas INBRE network. Co-Directors Galina Glazko, UAMS Elizabeth Pierce, UALR

 This fall 2014, we are welcoming 2 new MS students and 2 new PhD students  So far this year we have graduated 2 PhD Students  Our current student head count stands at 22 students  With the new MS curriculum finalized, we can focus this year on recruiting students interested in pursuing research in the following 4 areas:  Drug Design  Integrated Bioinformatics & Genomics  Computational Biology  Biomedical Informatics

Building and Using a Rocks Cluster for Bioinformatics Survey of Bioinformatics Tools on a Linux System Machine Learning for Bioinformatics Bash Scripting for Bioinformatics Processing Next-gen Sequence Data on a Linux System

The Arkansas INBRE webpage and a Bioinformatics Core Support Request Form are available on the Division of Biomedical Informatics website ( The listserv INBRE Research Support with the address of has been created and Support Requests are automatically sent to These changes will be announced on the Arkansas INBRE Bioinformatics Core and Arkansas Bioinformatics Network webpages GSAR (“Gene Set Analysis in R”) is freely available on the Bioconductor website and will have a link on the DBMI website and the Arkansas INBRE page

MCBIOS 2015 will be held at the Statehouse Convention Center, Little Rock, March , 2015 UALR/UAMS Graduate Program in Bioinformatics will have a recruiting booth A One-Day Omics Workshop will be organized with 3 options in conjunction with the MCBIOS Conference: – Transcriptomics Data Analysis Workshop presented by Dr. Frank Emmert-Streib, Center for Cancer Research and Cell Biology, Queen's University Belfast, UK – Genomics Data Analysis Workshop, TBN – Proteomics (Metabolomics?) Data Analysis Workshop, TBN We will hold an Omics Poster Session as part of the UAMS Research Day (also coordinated with the UALR Research Day) in April 2015

Administrative Core Bioinformatics Core Research Technology Core Developmental Research Project Program

Diagram of the Arkansas INBRE Research Technology Core. The three branches of this core will facilitate cutting-edge research and provide education on state-of-the-art technologies at Arkansas INBRE partner and affiliated institutions. Director: Alan Tackett, UAMS

Specific Aim 1. Support undergraduate research by providing Core Facility Vouchers to undergraduate faculty and students. Specific Aim 2. Invest in cutting-edge core facility technology development by providing Core Facility Development Awards to core facilities at UAMS and UAF. Core facilities will apply for funds to implement some new approach/service into their facility Awards will be up to $3,500, and we anticipate awarding 4–6 yearly Priority will be given to core facilities that have large numbers of INBRE- supported PUI users These awards will provide a mechanism by which the Arkansas INBRE can support Core Facility development, while still providing general access to all Core Facilities for PUI users Faculty Research Core Facility Vouchers Student Research Core Facility Vouchers Faculty Curriculum Core Facility Vouchers

Specific Aim 3. Promote the Arkansas INBRE Research Technology Core and provide on-site educational seminars at Arkansas undergraduate institutions. On-site promotional activities and educational seminars (1)a one-hour seminar (30 minutes for Dr. Tackett to describe opportunities through the Research Technology Core and 30 minutes of training given by a core facility director) (2)display of a Research Technology Core poster detailing the Core Facility Voucher Program and available core facilities (3)one-on-one meetings with INBRE-funded faculty and students (4)meetings with non-INBRE-funded faculty and students. Social Media Hub

Diagram of the Arkansas INBRE Research Technology Core personnel and roles.

Administrative Core Bioinformatics Core Research Technology Core Developmental Research Project Program

Specific Aim 1. Recruit new faculty to select partner institutions. Specific Aim 2. Support biomedical research by funding research grants for mentored faculty at partner and affiliate institutions. Specific Aim 3. Sustain the research career development of faculty at partner and affiliate institutions by mentoring and other activities. Director: Helen Beneš, UAMS

Average Award Amt YR 1YR 2YR 3YR 4YR 5 Summer Research Grants 25, ,000 Pilot Study Grants 40,000 80,000120, ,000274,000 Research Development Grants 100,000 1,000,000 Shared Instrumentation Grants >5, ,00052,00042,000 Faculty Recruitment Packages 100,000 over 3 years 35,000140,000150,000140,00035,000 Mini Sabbaticals/Training 7,000 28,000 Seminar Series/Workshops 7,000 10,000 Total DRPP 1,500,000

Type of GrantDurationAverage Award Amount Allowable Expenses Summer Research Grants Summer (10 weeks) Up to $25,500 Personnel (PL and student), supplies, travel and other costs as justified Pilot Study Grants Variable (4–12 months) Up to $40,000 Personnel (PL, student, and technician), small equipment, supplies, travel and others costs as justified Research Development Grants 2.5 years$250,000 Personnel (PL, student, and technician), equipment, supplies, travel, and other costs as justified Shared Instrumentation Grants 1 year (12 months) $5,000 - $50,000 Purchase cost of instrument only

Research Career Development Groups – “Chalk talks” to help Project Leaders with research development Seminar Series – up to $1,200 for Project Leaders to invite speakers to their home institution Mini-Sabbaticals for Technical Training – up to $7,000 for Project Leaders to learn special techniques at core facilities Proposal-Writing Workshops – Arkansas INBRE Project Leaders will be able to take advantage of the annual AREA grant writing workshops offered by Kentucky INBRE

Gwen V. Childs, PhD, Professor & Chair, Neurobiology & Developmental Science, UAMS Andrea Duina, PhD, Assoc. Professor, Biology, Hendrix College Howard Hendrickson, PhD, Assoc. Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences, UAMS Argelia Lorence, PhD, Professor, Chemistry and Physics, ASU David Paul, PhD, Assoc. Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry, UAF Marty Perry, PhD, Assoc. Professor, Chemistry, OBU Antonie Rice, PhD, Professor & Chair, Dept. of Chemistry and Physics Jerry Ware, PhD, Professor, Physiology and Biophysics, UAMS

Jerry Darsey, PhD, Assoc. Professor, Chemistry, UALR INBRE mentor; previous INBRE proposal reviewer; chemistry/biochemistry Robert J. Griffin, PhD, Assoc. Professor, Radiation Oncology, UAMS INBRE mentor for current Project Leader; molecular biology/cell and cancer biology Lori Hensley, PhD, Assoc. Professor, Biological Sciences, OBU INBRE Project Leader (current), cell and cancer biology Brent Hill, PhD, Assoc. Professor, Biology, UCA INBRE Project Leader (current), physiology/cell biology Malathi Srivatsan, PhD, Assoc. Professor, Biological Sciences, ASU INBRE Project Leader (former), neuroscience/cell biology/molecular biology Daniel Voth, PhD, Assist. Professor, Microbiology and Immunology, UAMS INBRE mentor for current Project Leader; infectious disease/molecular biology/cell biology