Bioinformatics Core (BIC)
Director
Jingjing Zhu, PhD
Assistant Professor
jzhu@lsuhsc.edu
Mission
The Bioinformatics Core provides centralized bioinformatics expertise to support study design, data analysis, interpretation, and management across basic, clinical, and translational research. Through consultation, collaboration, and training, the Core applies state-of-the-art computational approaches to generate reliable, informatics-driven insights. Our mission is to enable high-quality, reproducible research that advances biomedical discovery and supports investigators in publication and competitive funding.
Description
The Bioinformatics Core provides expert support in bioinformatics consultation, grant and protocol development, database design, research planning, and data analysis. The core works with a broad range of “omics” data including genomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and metagenomicsgenerated from platforms such as PCR, microarrays, next-generation sequencing, and mass spectrometry.
The team supports LSU investigators with hardware and software resources for preliminary analyses and hypotheses in preparation for grant proposals. The Core also provides guidance on integrating computational biology methods into research plans and prepares letters of support upon request.
In addition, The Bioinformatics Core offers end-to-end data management services for the collection, storage, integration, and management of both clinical and research data.
Location
1700 Tulane Ave., Room 604, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70112
1) High-Memory Compute Server – Dell PowerEdge R770
128 physical cores / 256 threads
1 TB DDR5 memory
NVMe high-performance storage for fast compute workloads
25 Gb networking
2) High-Capacity Research Storage – Dell ME5084
~660 TiB (~725 TB) usable storage
RAID fault-tolerance
25 Gb networking
The Bioinformatics Core Facility offers a range of services designed to establish and sustain a robust infrastructure that enables the integration of advanced informatics solutions into research activities:
Free consultation
Experimental Design and Power Calculations – Collaborate with our bioinformatics specialists early in the planning stage to design experiments that maximize scientific impact and data quality. We provide tailored study design guidance, cost-effective solutions, and comprehensive data quality control for high-throughput projects.
Data Analysis Services
We offer data analysis for a wide range of omics datasets, including genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, epigenomics, and single-cell data. Both standardized pipelines and customized analytical workflows are available, with flexible deliverables tailored to project needs.
Grant Support
We provide hardware and software support to LSU researchers conducting preliminary data analyses for hypothesis development and testing as part of grant proposal preparation. Our team offers guidance on incorporating computational and bioinformatics methods into research analysis plans. Letters of support for grant applications are available upon request.
Data Management Service
We provide comprehensive data management services and develop web-based databases for the collection, storage, integration, and management of clinical and research data.
Collaborative Research
We collaborate with principal investigators across multiple LSU departments and campuses, providing bioinformatics support through both established analytical pipelines and customized computational tools developed to meet specific research objectives.
Internal Rate: $140/hour
External Rate: $200/hour
Charges for Data storage and Management:
Internal Rate: $15/TB per month
External Rate: $20/TB per month
Services can be supported either through direct payment in iLab or by budgeting appropriate effort into grants.
- Genomics and Next-Generation Sequence Analysis
- Microarray and Genotyping Analysis
- Proteomics and Protein Interaction Analysis
- Metobolomics data analysis
- Multivariate biomarker identification and classification
- Gene pattern, function analysis, systems biology