Undergraduate Research Experience in Neuropsychiatric Genomics

 描述(由申请者提供)：这项建议是为了发展加州大学洛杉矶分校暑期本科生在下一代测序(NGS)分析方面的研究经验(R25)。NGS使基因组学领域发生了革命性的变化，并日益渗透到生物科学、研究和医学的各个方面。这一发展引发了研究人员和专业人士对数据分析技能的巨大需求。由于生物科学研究生课程和生物医学专业学校正在迅速调整其课程，以更加重视定量分析技能，显然，目前在定量数据集定量分析方面具有理解和实践经验的申请者人数仍然非常少。事实上，如果没有以前的计算生物科学研究经验，就很难评估申请者在定量分析技能方面的能力。在这个生物科学研究的后基因组时代，缺乏定量分析技能将阻碍研究生和生物医学研究人员的职业生涯。拟议的研究教育计划将解决申请者人才库的需求，这些申请者拥有在基因组分析方面的实践经验，这是在研究生院或专业学校取得成功所必需的。具体地说，这个新的R25计划将利用现有的基础设施，这些基础设施通过在NGS分析方面的研讨会提供这种体验：加州大学洛杉矶分校定量和计算生物学研究所(QCB)的“基因组学中的棕熊”(BIG-SHAME)计划。新的R25计划将使加州大学洛杉矶分校能够为全国招收的本科生提供专注于神经精神病学基因组学(BIG-NPG)的专业暑期体验。BIG-NPG将把QCB的NGS研讨会与加州大学洛杉矶分校神经行为遗传学中心(CNG)教师监督的个人指导研究项目和杂志俱乐部结合起来。这些教师正在通过几个合作的NIMH赠款来研究神经精神疾病的遗传和基因组基础。这些项目将为本科生提供机会，对涵盖广泛的NGS应用的特殊数据集进行分析(包括全基因组测序、转录组测序和表观基因组测序)。参加该项目将使学生能够获得在神经精神疾病基因组学方面具有潜在职业定义的研究经验。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal is to develop a UCLA summer undergraduate research experience (R25) in Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) analysis. NGS has revolutionized the field of genomics and is increasingly permeating all aspects of biosciences research and medicine. This development has triggered a huge need for data analysis skills among researchers and professionals. As biosciences graduate programs and biomedical professional schools are rapidly adapting their curricula towards a greater emphasis on quantitative analysis skills, it has become apparent that the current pool of applicants who have an understanding and hands-on experience in quantitative analysis of `omic datasets remains exceedingly shallow. Indeed, without prior computational biosciences research experience it is difficult to evaluate applicants for their aptitude in quantitative analysis skill. In this post-genome era of biosciences research, a lack of aptitude in quantitative analysis skills will hamper graduate students and biomedical researchers through their careers. The proposed research education plan will address the need for an applicant pool with the hands-on experience in genomics analysis necessary to be successful in either graduate or professional schools. Specifically this new R25 program will leverage existing infrastructure that provides such an experience through workshops in NGS analysis: the "Bruins in Genomics" (BIG-SUMMER) program of the UCLA Quantitative and Computational Biology Institute (QCB). The new R25 program will enable UCLA to provide undergraduates, recruited nationally, with a specialized summer experience focused on neuropsychiatric genomics (BIG-NPG). BIG-NPG will combine the NGS workshops of the QCB with individual mentored research projects and journal clubs overseen by faculty in the UCLA Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics (CNG). These faculty are investigating the genetic and genomic basis of neuropsychiatric disorders through several collaborative NIMH grants. These projects will offer the undergraduate students the opportunity to conduct analyses on exceptional datasets covering a wide range of NGS applications (including whole genome sequencing, transcriptome sequencing, and epigenome sequencing). Participating in the program will enable students to gain a potentially career defining research experience in the genomics of neuropsychiatric disease.