<p> InterAC Research Meeting – Interaction and Acceleration of Research</p><p>MINUTES</p><p>Tuesday, April 22, 2014, 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. Biotech Place – Conference Rooms 153 A & B</p><p>Attending: Drs. Cline, Diz, Thomas Eaton for Harrison, Ken Russell for Furth, Jerome, Kaplan, Kritchevsky, Langefeld, McCall, Ms. Gibson, Ms. Hooker, Ms. Klein, Ms. McClellan, Mr. Nolan, Ms. Pranke, Ms. Rankin, Ms. Russell, Ms. Smith, Eric Frazier for Ms. Tiernan </p><p>Absent: Drs. Atala, Baker, Batalia, Bell, Bleecker, Bowden, Butler, Carroll, Craft, Mr. Daniel, Drs. Debinski, Feldman, Holmes, Hoth, Ms. Joyner, Mr. Kavanaugh, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. King, Dr. Li, Ms. Marshall, Drs. Meyers, Morris, Ms. Molloy, Ms. Muday, Drs. Pardee, Parks, Pasche, Poehling, Porrino, Kim-Shapiro, Su, Swords, Tomlinson, Wagenknecht, Xu, Mr. O’Byrne, Ms. Hopkins, Ms. Presnell, Mr. Price, and Ms. Woodside </p><p>Guests: Dr. Walter Ambrosius</p><p>Business Topics: </p><p>Dr. Kaplan called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. He requested a motion to approve the minutes of March 25, 2014. A motion was made and seconded; all in favor, none opposed. Any subsequent changes to the minutes should be sent to Ms. Molloy. </p><p>Presentations: Seeking Biostatistics Collaboration at Wake Forest</p><p>Dr. Ambrosius, Chair in the Department of Biostatical Sciences, gave a brief update on the mission, strengths, collaborations and resource services provided by the Department of Biostatistical Sciences, which is one of three departments in Public Health Sciences. The department is organized to improve public health through the development and application of quantitative and computational methods in biomedical research.</p><p>There are a variety of strengths within the department which include: statistical genetics and bioinformatics, multicenter study coordination, and collaboration with colleagues throughout the medical center, and Reynolda Campus, as well as other institutions such as Chapel Hill, Duke and others throughout the United States. The department is actively involved in developing new statistical techniques and expertise in comparative effectiveness in health services research. </p><p>The department provides other institutional resources such as a Design and Analysis Unit, CCC WFU Biostatistics Core and Pepper Center Biostatistics Core. Please click here to view the entire presentation: “Seeking Biostatistics Collaboration at Wake Forest” Center for Public Health Genomics: Purpose, Goals and Progress Dr. Carl Langefeld gave an introduction on the purpose, goals and progress on the Center for Public Health Genomics. The motivation for the center was the rapid pace of the discovery brought on by the evolution in the field of public health genomics which has been technology driven. The era of integrative genomics is here, and if Wake Forest is to be competitive they need to keep pace with these rapid changes in key areas such as, quantitative aspects of genomics, pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine.</p><p>The purpose of the center is to encourage and facilitate research on the genomics of diseases with its focus primarily on the quantitative and population-based aspects of genomics research. The intent of the center is to contribute to the institutional mission by connecting researchers, encouraging multi- disciplinary collaborations and developing statistical and bioinformatics infrastructure. The centers output is intended to be an institutional resource for anyone, regardless of being a formal member of the center. The centers specific aims are:  Develop synergies and collaborations through working groups  Center Meetings, e-Seminar Series and conferences for Statistical Genetics, Genetic Epidemiology and Bioinformatics  Sponsor two $20K Pilot Projects RFA’s for NIH grant proposals  Develop statistical and bioinformatic software and analysis pipelines for sequencing data</p><p>Please click here to view the entire presentation: “Center for Public Health Genomics: Purpose, Goals and Progress”</p><p>Scheduled Meetings </p><p>1. May 27 4:00 - 5:00 Medical School Board Room 2. June 24 4:00 – 5:00 Biotech Place, Rooms 155A & B 3. July 22 4:00 – 5:00 Medical School Board Room 4. August 26 4:00 – 5:00 Biotech Place, Rooms 155A & B</p><p>Please forward any topic suggestions to [email protected] and [email protected]</p>