Bioinformatics Strategies for Application of Genomic Tools to Environmental Health Research
McKimmon Center, NC State University
Raleigh, NC, March 5, 2001
The National Center for Toxicogenomics (NCT) at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences has taken the leadership in establishing standards for toxicogenomics -- the study of how toxic agents and environmental conditions adversely affect human health and promote the onset of diseases -- by creating and populating a public database that combines gene expression responses to specific toxicants with the production of corresponding proteins.
This effort is synthesized by spearheading the development of informatics technology to manage a growing toxicogenomics database containing the chemical effects on biological systems. The North Carolina State University (NCSU) Bioinformatics Research Center and the NCT are co-sponsoring the Bioinformatics Strategies for Application of Genomic Tools to Environmental Health Research workshop to lay down a firm foundation for the development of such a database.
The workshop will be held on March 5, 2001 at the North Carolina State University McKimmon Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. The agenda consists of morning presentations by leaders in the fields of microarray data analysis and database development. The morning session will be followed by two afternoon discussion sessions for comments and responses from the workshop presenters and other experts in the fields of bioinformatics, statistics, computational biology, and toxicology to key panel discussion questions centered on discussion about how to proceed in the development of a toxicogenomics database.
The workshop registration is limited, on a first-come, first-served basis and is expected to fill up quickly. Please submit the registration form at the link found on the main page.
Panel Discussion Questions
There are a number of microarray data standardization formats currently under development and concerted efforts to formulate one standard. How best can the development of the NCT database proceed to maintain a specific scope yet remain compatible and flexible with other on-going efforts?
Microarray and proteomics technologies produce vast amounts of data. The usefulness of a repository of gene expression data is being able to associate it with toxicological and biological information. How best can the NCT initiative integrate biological resources to gain heuristic knowledge and predictive power about chemical effects on biological systems? What considerations should be made for curation?
What are the highest priorities that the NCT should be considering for research and development in the areas of biostatistics, bioinformatics, and data analysis? How can NIEHS and the NCT best impact and support these areas?
With the development and implementation of cutting-edge information technology and software tools where are the fields of data exchange, visualization, and interpretation headed and how best can the NCT leverage such developments to better understand toxicogenomics?
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