What is Bioinformatics? Bioinformatics is "research, development, or application of computational tools and approaches for expanding the use of biological, medical, behavioral or health data, including those to acquire, store, organize, archive, analyze, or visualize such data." —The working definition of bioinformatics developed by the BISTIC Definition Committee and released on July 17, 2000. http://www.bisti.nih.gov/docs/CompuBioDef.pdf

NIH Library Class Schedule
All bioinformatics classes are hands-on, held in the NIH Library Training Room, 1:30–3:30 p.m. Please register (as registration becomes available) to guarantee a seat in the class and to receive any training materials associated with the specific class.

Sept 16           Sequence Analysis: Making Sense of DNA and Protein Sequences
Oct 15            Gene Resources: From Transcription Factor Binding Sites to Function
Nov 5              Sequence Similarity Search: BLAST
Dec 8              Protein Structural Analysis: Binding Sites to Distant Homologs 
Jan 14            Genome Browsers
Feb 11            Identification of Disease Genes
Mar 11            Correlation of Disease Genes to Phenotypes

Licensed Resources
Ingenuity Pathways Analysis (IPA)
Ingenuity is a web-based bioinformatics tool created by Ingenuity® Systems that allows researchers to search, analyze, and graphically view molecular interactions, biological functions, and diseases. Access to Ingenuity is for NIH staff and requires a user account, which is linked to your NIH email address. The NIH Library has purchased 3 floating licenses for Ingenuity Pathways Analysis. Access is available for PC and Mac platforms. Contact Medha Bhagwat, Biomedical Informationist, NIH Library, for registration code and access to other than the trial version.

Other Bioinformatics Resources
Search results from these sets are not comprehensive. Additional resources may be available from the NIH Library collections. 

All Bioinformatics Research Tools in the NIHL Collection
Bioinformatics Journals in the NIHL Collection
Bioinformatics Databases in the NIHL Collection
Bioinformatics Online Books in the NIHL Collection
Bioinformatics Internet Resources Linked from the NIHL Collection 

Online Tutorials
UCSC Genome Browser
Galaxy Analysis Tools
VISTA: Comparative Genomics Tools                       
Genome Variation Server (GVS) by SeattleSNPs               
SeattleSNPs Variation Discovery Resource

Consulting and Tutorial Services
Medha Bhagwat, Informationist
The NIH Library has hired an expert bioinformatics trainer and consultant, Medha Bhagwat, to support genetics and bioinformatics research at NIH. Medha has bioinformatics experience gained at NCBI for almost 11 years. She has a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Maryland, College Park, and has conducted postdoctoral training at NIDDK focusing on the structure-function studies of bacteriophage T4 RNase H. Medha published several articles on her research, as well as book chapters on bioinformatics classes/protocols.

From 2001 to 2008 she taught at the NCBI Core-Bioinformatics Facility training the representatives from NIH institutes in the use of the NCBI bioinformatics tools. Medha also developed and taught several 2-hour mini-courses, which describe the effective use of a set of bioinformatics tools. The courses were taught more than 400 times to about 12,000 participants.

Her diverse background and strong experience in biochemistry, molecular biology and bioinformatics is ideal for both basic and translational research. She conducts tutorials on using bioinformatics resources available through the NIH Library, NCBI's Databases and Tools for Data Mining, and other bioinformatics resources such as Biobase, DAVID, Ensembl, and UCSC Genome Browser.

Tutorials available for individuals, labs, or groups cover the following topics:
DNA Analysis,
Protein Analysis,
Comparison of DNA & Protein Sequences, and
Pathway Analysis.

To schedule a tutorial, or to request consultation services, please contact Medha directly at 301-496-2185 or email bhagwat@mail.nih.gov.