UB to Hold Conference on Post-Genomic Research

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Western New York scientists working in the areas of genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics will share their findings and innovations at the first Buffalo-Niagara Post-Genomic Research Conference on May 15.

Sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Research at the University at Buffalo, the conference will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Room 105 of Harriman Hall on UB's South (Main Street) Campus. It will be followed by a reception.

Presenters will include geneticists, pharmaceutical scientists, computer scientists, biologists, chemists and physiologists from UB, Roswell Park Cancer Institute and Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute. Post-genomic research refers to research in the life sciences resulting from the mapping of the human genome.

Speakers will discuss their results and innovations, including the best ways to design experiments in the post-genomic era, new computational approaches to managing the data such experiments generate and new techniques to speed the identification of promising compounds, such as a genomics-based high-throughput drug discovery system.

The keynote speaker will be Gregg Morin, vice president of MDS Proteomics, one of the leading companies in the field that is bridging the gap between genomics and drug discovery.

"This is a critical time for post-genomic research in Western New York," said Kenneth Tramposch, Ph.D., UB associate vice president for research and one of the conference organizers.

"A lot of excellent post-genomic research is going on in Western New York, but it tends to stay hidden in the laboratories of individual scientists," he commented.

"This conference will provide an opportunity for the area's leading researchers from all three institutions involved in the Buffalo Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics, as well as people from local life sciences companies, to interact and to share ideas with each other."

Tramposch expects to make the conference an annual event.

While the conference will be free, those planning to participate must register by completing the online registration form at http://www.specialevents.buffalo.edu/postgenomics or by calling Joseph Cusker at 645-3321.