Research Community
Biomedical Research at the University of ColoradoThe Colorado Initiative in Molecular Biotechnology is just one component of a thriving biomedical research community at the University of Colorado. Many departments and multidisciplinary programs, along with interactions with other campuses (including the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, only a half-hour drive away in Denver), provide a broad range of opportunities for collaborative research. Participating DepartmentsThe CIMB represents 8 departments in the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Engineering. Departments currently represented include Applied Mathematics, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Chemical and Biological Engineering, Computer Sciences, Evolutionary and Ecological Biology, Integrative Physiology, Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology, and Physics, with some members jointly appointed in JILA, NIST, and LASP. Outreach to other departments is anticipated as the initiative expands. Multidisciplinary ResearchThe Bioinformatics SupergroupThe Bioinformatics Supergroup meets monthly, and draws researchers from eight departments and programs as well as regularly hosting speakers from the other CU campuses, industry (including Agilent and Dharmacon) and other institutions (including the Whitehead Institute at MIT, The University of Lausanne, and The University of Maryland). It is supported by the STCCR training grant. The Biophysics SupergroupThe Biophysics Supergroup is part of the Biophysics Program. Each month, members of two labs present their research. Participants come from five departments: Applied Math, Chemical and Biological Engineering, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and MCDB. The Center for Computational BiologyThe Center for Computational Biology, based in Denver, coordinates bioinformatics and computational biology research across the University of Colorado campuses. It holds a regular seminar series, and also offers a graduate certificate in computational biology. The Colorado Initiative in Molecular BiotechnologyThe Colorado Initiative in Molecular Biotechnology is a campus-wide effort to raise funds for and to coordinate research at the interface between biology and other sciences. University President Dr. Elizabeth Hoffman is coordinating major donations linked to specific projects, which can take place at any of the University of Colorado campuses. Donations from Jane and Charlie Butcher, along with funds from the President's office, have thus far supported two highly successful symposia in 2002 and 2004, plus two rounds of seed funding for new interdisciplinary funding that led to research published in Nature and other high- profile journals. The Neuroscience SupergroupThe Neuroscience Supergroup is run by the Center for Neuroscience, a multidisciplinary training program that includes researchers from over a dozen academic departments and programs ranging from Chemistry and Biochemistry to Computer Science to the Institute for Behavioral Genetics. It meets monthly, with one seminar per month. RNA ClubRNA Club, still going strong since its founding nearly 20 years ago in 1986, meets every 2-4 weeks during the academic year, with two research presentations per session. RNA Club attracts speakers from MCDB, Biochemistry, the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, and speakers from biotech companies in and around Boulder that were founded on the basis of research at CU. These companies include Dharmacon, siRNA Therapeutics, and Somalogic. The Signal Transduction and Cell Cycle Regulation SupergroupSTCCR meets every 3-4 weeks during the academic year, with two research presentations by graduate students, postdocs, or faculty, primarily from MCDB and Biochemistry. Costs are supported by the STCCR training grant. Other Campuses in the CU SystemThe University of Colorado System consists of three campuses: the University of Colorado, Boulder, the University of Colorado, Denver and Health Sciences Center, and the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. There is considerable interaction among the campuses: many faculty have appointments in the graduate programs at more than one campus, and many students carry out some of their research at or in collaboration with labs at other campuses. Local Biotech CompaniesMany biotech companies have been founded on the basis of discoveries made at Boulder. These companies continue to have close ties to the university, including participation in the multidisciplinary research seminars and programs outlined above, placement of graduate students as postdocs or during lab rotations, and donations back to the university. A partial list of Colorado biotech companies includes:
|
|
|
|
CU-Boulder Professor Marvin Caruthers Gives $20 Million To Boost Biotech Building, Bolstering Collaborative Research
