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New centre for Bioinformatics

25 May 2005

The Bloomsbury Centre for Bioinformatics (BCB) - a joint venture between UCL and Birkbeck College - will celebrate its opening with a symposium on 20 June 2005.

Professor David Jones Research groups affiliated to a number of various departments at both institutions have joined forces to create the centre, which will not only conduct bioinformatics research, but will also provide the UCL and Birkbeck life science communities with consultancy and training services in this emerging discipline.

Bioinformatics involves employing computational methods to understand the wealth of genomics information now available to researchers, and is linked to both biology and computer science. Both UCL and Birkbeck have been at the forefront of bioinformatics research for a number of years, establishing an international centre for excellence in the subject. Academics from UCL's departments of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Computer Science, Division of Infection & Immunity, and Institute of Child Health, and from Birkbeck's schools of Computer Science and Crystallography are all affiliated to the new Bloomsbury centre.

Director of the BCB, UCL's Professor David Jones (Computer Science) said: "I am delighted to be the Director of the new Bloomsbury Centre for Bioinformatics, which has a number of internationally renowned bioinformatics research groups affiliated to it. The Centre was established not only to meet a rapidly growing need for bioinformatics training and support, but also to act as a focus for interdisciplinary research between computer scientists and life scientists at both UCL and Birkbeck. I also hope it will allow both universities to maximise their potential for world-class research in human health arising from new advances in post-genomic technology."

UCL's Provost and President, Professor Malcolm Grant, will open the symposium, which will be attended by representatives of major funding bodies. The event is free and open to all members UCL and Birkbeck, although attendees must register. Professor Jones will present his inaugural lecture, with Professor Janet Thornton CBE (European Bioinformatics Institute) giving the vote of thanks. The lecture will be followed by research seminars from Professor Sir Tom Blundell (Cambridge), Dr Lorenz Wernisch (Birkbeck) and Dr Matthew Woodwark (AstraZeneca), with the Master of Birkbeck, Professor David Latchman giving the closing address. A drinks reception will round off the day.

To register for the symposium or to find out more about the centre use the links below.


Link:
Bloomsbury Centre for Bioinformatics
Symposium Registration