Virginia Bioinformatics Institute - Major Research Divisions

Major Research Divisions

VBI has several programmatic research and development focus areas that are addressing some of today’s key challenges in information technology, biology and medicine. Scientists at VBI are helping to broaden our understanding of the natural world and impact the transformation of scientific knowledge into tools, technologies, and solutions for the life sciences. VBI's research divisions active are:

Advanced Computing and Informatics Laboratories (ACIL)

• Directed by Dr. Chris Barrett
• Composed of several groups dedicated to "Policy Informatics", the largest of which is Network Dynamics and Simulation Science Laboratory (NDSSL)
• Pursuing an advanced research and development program for interaction-based modeling, simulation, and associated analysis, experimental design, and decision support tools for understanding large biological, information, social, and technological systems.
• Receives support from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency for the “Comprehensive National Incident Management System” project, which involves developing a system to provide those involved in disaster management in the United States military with essential detailed operational information about the populations being affected by a possible crisis.
• Receives support from the National Institutes of Health for the project, “Modeling Disease Dynamics on Large, Detailed, Co-Evolving Networks,” which supports ongoing work to develop high-performance computer models for the study of very large networks, which aids policymakers in making public health policy decisions.

The Cyberinfrastructure Division (CID)

• Directed by Dr. Bruno Sobral
• Develops methods, infrastructure, and resources to help enable scientific discoveries in infectious disease research and other research fields. The group uses cyberinfrastructure principles to integrate data, computational infrastructure, and people.
• Receives support from the National Institutes of Health to support the project, “Pathosystems Resource Integration Center - Bioinformatics Resource Center for Bacterial Diseases.” The project supports infectious disease research across the globe, namely to integrate information on pathogens, provide resources and tools to scientists, and help researchers to analyze genomic, proteomic and other data arising from infectious disease research.
• Part of the Middle-Atlantic Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research (MARCE) project, which focuses on research to enable rapid defense against bioterror and emerging infectious diseases. Specific diseases and disease-causing agents under investigation include anthrax, West Nile Virus, smallpox, and cryptosporidiosis, among others. The team is also developing needle-free vaccinations and new diagnostic tools. VBI serves as the Bioinformatics and Genomics Research Core for the MARCE, providing data generation, analysis, storage, and training services.
• Teams with Georgetown University and Social and Scientific Systems, Inc (SSS) on the Administrative Center of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases-funded Proteomics Research Resource Center (PRC) for Biodefense Proteomics Research project. The team helps design, develop, and maintain a publicly accessible Web site containing data and technology protocols generated by each PRC, as well as a catalog that lists reagents and products developed by the sites and available for public distribution. The mission of the PRCs is to discover potential targets for the next generation of vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.

Biological Systems Division

• Directed by Dr. Stan Hefta
• Develops computational methods for studying biochemical networks using data from experimental observations.
• Receives support from the National Institutes of Health to support COPASI (Complex Pathway Simulator), an open-source software package that allows users with limited experience in mathematics to construct models and simulations of biochemical networks.
• Develops new computer languages to represent complex phenotypes that are encoded in long DNA sequences composed of multiple functional blocks.
• Supported by the National Science Foundation to develop GenoCAD, a web-based Computer Assisted Design environment for synthetic biology. The GenoCAD point-and-click user interface guides the user through the process of designing new sequences.

Medical Informatics & Systems (MIS) Division

• Directed by Dr. Harold "Skip" Garner
• Major focus areas include human genetics and disease, especially cancer and neurological disorders
• Develops new computer tools and databases in support of research at the clinical-basic research interface, e.g. ‘translational’ research including -omic research involving patient samples, clinician decision support systems, hypothesis generation systems for complex diseases and traits, and systems for value extraction from electronic medical records.
• This division is highly collaborative, working with Carilion Clinics, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute, and other universities and government agencies.