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An Outstanding Environment for Interdisciplinary Research

To effectively address today's pressing problems in biology and medicine, biologists, chemists, computer scientists, statisticians, engineers, and physicists must work together, crossing traditional academic boundaries. UCSC's Division of Physical and Biological Sciences and the Baskin School of Engineering actively encourage interactions across divisional boundaries, ass well as with other universities, research institutes, and the high-tech and biotechnology industries. The University's Center for Biomolecular Science and Engineering (CBSE) was created to help organize joint research projects, help coordinate faculty hiring, solicit funding for innovative research clusters and centers, and develope interdisciplinary academic programs and courses aimed at a better understanding of biology and human health in the post-genomic era.

Examples of Interdivisional Collaboration at UCSC

The RNA Center is directed by Professor Harry Noller. .

The Center for Molecular Biology of RNA

The CBSE synergizes with UCSC's Center for Molecular Biology of RNA, or RNA Center, which was founded in 1992 to promote the interdisciplinary study of this crucial molecule. Scientists at the Center investigate RNA structure and function using X-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy. Another major focus is the interface between bioinformatics and RNA molecular biology. The RNA Center therefore collaborates closely with other research groups, including computer scientists in the School of Engineering, UCSC's Microarray Facility, as well external organizations, such as the Advanced Light Source at UC Berkeley. Research topics include catalytic RNA ("ribozymes"), the structure and function of ribosomes, the mechanism of pre-mRNA splicing, regulation of alternative splicing in eukaryotic gene expression, computational analysis of small cellular RNAs, and RNA genomics. The RNA Center also sponsors the internationally known, biannual RNA Structure Symposium.

The Center for Biological Sciences and Engineering (CBSE)

The CBSE is  as an umbrella organization at UCSC spanning the Baskin School  of Engineering and the Division of Physical & Biological  Sciences. The CBSE promotes  interdisciplinary research in the biomedical sciences, with particular emphasis on areas that encompass the study of genomic information and structural biology. The Center helps support core facilities, such as the computational cluster used for the UCSC Genome Browser and genomic research, the microarray facility, and the embryonic stem cell laboratory, and attracts research funding for the center, for affiliated faculty and students from federal, state, and private agencies.

Collaborations Involving Other Institutions

Genome Research - The Genome Bioinformatics Group

The Genome Bioinformatics Group - left to right, Fan Hsu, Donna Karolchik, Heather Trumbower, Terry Furey, Matt Schwartz, Jim Kent, David Haussler, Patrick Gavin, Chuck Sugnet, Angie Hinrichs, Jorge Garcia.

The Genome Bioinformatics Group in the Baskin School of Engineering plays a leading role in comparative analysis of the human, mouse, rat, and other model genomes. The group's Genome Browser and BLAT tools provide genome sequence data and annotations for scientists worldwide. Their ongoing research projects include detailed analysis of insertions, deletions, translocations, inversions, and rearrangements between mammalian genomes, genome-wide profiling of alternative splicing in mammalian systems, and development of methods for picking clones and identifying problematic clones for the Mammalian Gene Collection. These studies contribute to the longer-term goal of obtaining a complete and accurate description of all gene structures in model mammalian genomes, understanding the dynamics of their expression, and tracing the evolution of their functional elements. In addition to working with colleagues at UCSC, the Bioinformatics Group collaborates with numerous external organizations. These include: the National Human Genome Research Institute, the National Cancer Institute, the BAC Resource Consortium, the International Human Genome Mapping Consortium, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium, the Mouse Genome Sequencing Consortium, the Rat Genome Sequencing Consortium, the NISC Comparative Sequencing Program, and the National Center for Biotechnology Information.

The Institute for Quantitative Biomedical Research (QB3)

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Biomedical Research Website by William Sullivan and David M. States
Last updated December 11, 2006