Home February 2005 Genome Center Update
Faculty Recruitments
The nine new faculty recruited last year have now all arrived and are setting up their labs and settling in. In December, we interviewed for statistics-oriented faculty in close coordination with the Department of Statistics and the Biostatistics Program. We currently have offers pending to two excellent candidates.
A variety of positions remain unfilled in the portfolio of positions that we hope to recruit to the Genome Center. These include but are not limited to mammalian or plant genetics, comparative microbial genomics and analysis of metabolic or regulatory pathways. Further details can be found at the Genome Center website. We are keen to involve potential home departments for these positions from the beginning of these recruitments and to encourage active solicitation of applicants in these areas.
We are now embarking on the next round of interviews for up to five positions. We have a strong group of candidates who will be interviewed in February and March. The schedule of seminars is available here. We welcome feedback on these candidates and assistance in recruiting these individuals to campus.
GBSF Occupancy
We finally moved into the new Genome and Biomedical Sciences Facility (GBSF). The Genome Center occupies the fi rst, fourth and a quarter of the fi fth fl oors. The move has consumed much of the time and energy of the faculty and staff. The majority of the facility works well. However, there remain the inevitable and aggravating teething problems of a new building that continue to consume time and effort.Development of Enabling Technology Cores
A high priority over the next 12 months is the development of the service cores to provide technologies that are currently limiting research on campus. Strategic oversight and leadership for the DNA technologies, Expression, Proteomics, Metabolomics and Bioinformatics cores are being provided by Professors Richard Michelmore, Peggy Farnham, Julie Leary, Oliver Fiehn and Craig Benham respectively. Details will be posted on the website as the cores are developed. The five service cores are in various stages of development. DNA technologies will be initially focused on high throughput genotyping; we have hired a core manager, Charlie Nicolet and purchased several pieces of equipment including the Illumina system. We anticipate being ready to analyze the first samples in the next two months. The expression analysis core is also being initially supervised by Charlie Nicolet; we have purchased an Aglilent scanner and will use an arrayer donated by Elva Diaz. Due to widespread interest, we are planning on holding a training workshop for ChIP Chip analysis over the summer. We have purchased mass spectrometers for the proteomics and metabolomics cores, including a Thermo Finnigan LTQ FT. We are in the process of recruiting a manager for the Proteomics core and have hired a manager for the Metabolomics core, Vladimir Tolstikov, who will arrive mid-February. We are currently initiating the search for the Bioinformatics core manager. Where possible we are coordinating the services developed by the Genome Center with existing services on campus to avoid duplication.
Interactions with Existing Faculty and Facilities
The majority of our energies over the past twelve months have been devoted to recruiting new faculty, moving into the new building and developing infrastructure. Over the next year, we will emphasize developing relationships between the Genome Center and faculty across campus as well as existing service facilities. We will develop these relationships in the context of a broad campus-wide Genomics Initiative. All faculty with research programs in genomics or bioinformatics will have the opportunity to be affiliate members of the Genome Center and to contribute to the development of genomics on campus.
We welcome feedback and comments on the development of the Genome Center and technology cores.
Richard Michelmore ,Director
Ken Burtis,Associate Director, Experimental Genomics
Craig Benham,Associate Director, Bioinformatics
Genome and Biomedical Sciences Facility Formal Dedication
The Genome and Biomedical Sciences Facility formal dedication took place on Oct 13. Dean Phyllis Wise of the Division of Biological Sciences introduced the honored guests, which included the Honorable John Garamendi, California State Insurance Commissioner; Mrs Portia Whitaker Shumaker of the Whitaker foundation; and Dr. Glenn Nedwin, President of Novozymes Biotech. Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef delivered the keynote address.
Approximately $65 million of the building's cost has been financed through "Garamendi funding," a unique financing mechanism named for its sponsor, then California State Senator John Garamendi. The Whitaker Foundation and the UC Davis School of Medicine contributed most of the remaining funds. Novozymes Biotech contibuted $500,000 to endow the Novozymes Chair in Genomics, which is to be held by the director of the UC Davis Genome Center.
More on the dedication ceremony
Novozymes sponsers chair in Genomics at UC Davis
UC Davis
March 19 2004
Novozymes, the world's largest manufacturer of industrial enzymes, has made a gift of $500,000 to the UC Davis Foundation to support an endowed chair devoted to the director of the UC Davis Genome Center. This gift to support the Genome Center, a campus initiative, has been matched by a contribution of an equal amount from the University of California, providing a total endowment of $1 million.
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