School of Medicine

 

Bioinformatics Support Services for Pilot Projects

 

            The School of Medicine's Bioinformatics and Genomics Program has created a new Bioinformatics and Data Science Service Center (BDSSC) that is directed by Dr. Chindo Hicks. The center provides bioinformatics and computational genomics solutions and services on omics and sequencing project planning, design, management, analysis, visualization and interpretation of omics, sequence and other biological data.  In order to encourage and facilitate the development of genomics and sequencing projects and the use of this service center, the School of Medicine is initiating a Pilot Project program for genomics, sequencing and related projects requiring use of bioinformatics “Bioinformatics Support Program”.  This program will provide funding for pilot projects that utilize the Bioinformatics and Data Science Service Center (BDSSC) and will provide up to $2,000 of initial support for proposed and approved pilot studies aimed at generating preliminary data and publications in support of extramural grant applications/funding. Investigators may wish to note that additional funding may be requested if the project's bioinformatics needs or support exceed standard pilot projects as assessed by the BDSSC staff. This mechanism does not support NIH or extramurally funded grants.    

In order to obtain funding from this program, the applicant needs to follow these steps:

1. Contact Dr. Chindo Hicks to discuss the project and its feasibility. 
2. Investigators should order bioinformatics services electronically directly using the request form.  
3. Submit an application that includes:
   1. Project title
   2. Abstract
   3. A short description of the project
   4. A statement of how this project will be used to apply for extramural funding
   5. A statement that the extramural grant proposal will include budgeting for continued use of the BDSSC. 
   6. The requested budget/justification. 
   7. Project must be IRB approved, waived or exempt (evidence required).
4. The application must be submitted to the School of Medicine Research Office at SOMResearch@lsuhsc.edu.

 

The Pilot Projects in Bioinformatics Application can be found here.

 

Once the application has been submitted, it will be reviewed by the committee, who will assess its feasibility and potential to lead to extramural funding.  These proposals can be submitted at any time as there is no deadline. If recommended for funding, the money will be placed into an account that will be awarded to the investigator.  The funds will be used for study design, data analysis, visualization and interpretation by the BDSSC, which will bill for the time commitment as a cost recovery upon completion of the project.  The duration of the award will be for 1-year, and will be renewable for a second year of funding with data demonstrating progress toward the development of an extramural grant proposal.

This proposal may be combined with other REP proposals supported by the School of Medicine.  For example, an individual can request up to $75,000 for a New Project/Clinical Research Grant and request an additional $2,000 for bioinformatics support. However, all other proposals not supported by the School of Medicine will be assessed and judged independently and investigators should contact the BDSSC staff by clicking here.