InterAC Research Meeting –
Interaction and Acceleration of Research
MINUTES
Tuesday, April 22, 2014, 4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Biotech Place – Conference Rooms 153 A & B
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
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
Guests:
Dr. Walter Ambrosius
Business Topics:
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.
Presentations:
Seeking Biostatistics Collaboration at Wake Forest
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.
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.
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.
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 multidisciplinary 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
Please click here to view the entire presentation: “Center for Public Health Genomics: Purpose, Goals
and Progress”
Scheduled Meetings
1.
2.
3.
4.
May 27
June 24
July 22
August 26
4:00 - 5:00
4:00 – 5:00
4:00 – 5:00
4:00 – 5:00
Medical School Board Room
Biotech Place, Rooms 155A & B
Medical School Board Room
Biotech Place, Rooms 155A & B
Please forward any topic suggestions to lmolloy@wakehealth.edu and jkaplan@wakehealth.edu