New center for research of genomics

The University is establishing a new Genomics Institute to oversee all genomics research at Penn, Provost Robert Barchi announced yesterday. Led by Biology Professor David Roos, the Genomics Institute will include projects and programs expected to cost more than $75 million over a five-year period. Penn is at the forefront of genomics research, a field of study that, according to Barchi, is drastically changing the way scientists approach biology. "It's a paradigm shift, really as much as you'll ever see in your entire lifetime, in the way a science addresses the question that it has," Barchi said. Roos agreed with this assessment of genomics, likening it to molecular biology, which has become integral to modern biology as a whole. "There is no laboratory here that is not fully conversant with molecular biological problems," said Roos. Richard Spielman, Butterworth Professor of Genetics in the medical school, has been named the institute's associate director. In a statement, University President Judith Rodin praised the creation of the institute as a continuation of Penn's focus on collaborative research. "Penn's historic emphasis on interdisciplinary study and research will enable us to take full advantage of the exciting new possibilities we expect from the field of genomics," Rodin said. Barchi said that the purpose of the new institute is to create a better way of organizing genomics research at Penn. "When we looked at this area, it wasn't from the point of view of 'should we be doing it?'" said Barchi. "The question is, 'how can we as a university optimize our movement in this area?'" The new institute has four main goals, which include providing a focus for the genomics community, advancing the educational mission of Penn, facilitating access to technology and establishing intellectual leadership. "Penn is not unusual in investing a large amount of money in a genomics institute," Roos noted. "Genomics is an inherently integrated discipline, and I think, in that respect, the prospects [at Penn] are pretty good." The genomics initiative also includes the creation of the Cancer Genomics Program of the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute. This program will focus on breast, colon and prostate cancer as well as melanoma. Professor Barbara Weber has been named as director of the Cancer Genomics Program. Roos went on to say that isolating genomics under any single department or program "would be artificial," and that the integrated nature of research at Penn made it an appropriate place for the new institute. Though the institute's facilities and laboratories will be located in many buildings around campus, 13,000 square feet of space in phase one of the new Life Sciences Building will be allotted to the project. Blockley Hall, currently undergoing renovations, will have 12,000 square feet of space for the institute to conduct research on bioinformatics. Barchi said that the advent of computers has made the whole genomics revolution possible. "We now have the capability of understanding, or at least defining, every gene in the human genome," Barchi said. Barchi added that genomics will most likely produce major results in understanding cancer and the creation of new pharmaceuticals, but maintained that it is a study that is far more important than any individual result. "You're talking about a fundamental change in approaching knowledge," he said. So far, Penn has directed $38 million toward expanded facilities for genomics, as well as creating support facilities and searching for new faculty. The rest of the $75 million is expected to come from external grants and fundraising initiatives.