W8: Creating a Best of Breed Informatics Environment for Your Organization
Tuesday, April 5, 2016 | 8:00 – 11:30 am

ABOUT THIS WORKSHOP:

This workshop will be presented in two sections:

Section 1: Science Firehose: Introduction to Bioscience in 2016 for IT Professionals
Gregg TeHennepe, Program Manager, Computational Sciences, The Jackson Laboratory
This section is intended to give technology professionals an introduction to the basic science and instrument technology driving genomics research and personalized medicine. The field of genomics is creating intense technology infrastructure, data management, and analytics challenges, and a best of breed informatics environment is built around technology professionals who have a basic understanding of the science and discovery they are supporting.

We will cover the basics of biology and genetics, and how the rapidly developing field of sequencing is creating incredible opportunities for discovery and therapy. We will start with cell function followed by genetics and genomics, setting the basis for an overview of gene expression and epigenetics. From there we will review current and upcoming sequencing technologies, how they are revolutionizing the field of molecular biology. Finally we will explore the implications of these new technologies for IT and bioinformatics, and how the field is converging towards the cloud as the preferred environment for collaboration and data sharing.

Section 2: Publication Quality Graphics with R
Susan McClatchy, M.S., Bioinformatician and Research Program Manager, Center for Genome Dynamics, The Jackson Laboratory
R has become the software of choice for working with big data, and is considered a must-have in the bioinformatician’s toolbox. This workshop will provide a basic introduction to R, and will work through hands-on examples to give participants experience with utilizing the ggplot package to produce high-quality graphics. You will learn to:

• Load data from a URL.
• Convert date objects and formats.
• Transform the scale of a plot.
• Specify the breaks in the x and y axes.
• Use plot annotations, custom axis labels, and axis themes.

To participate in the workshop, please download and install R (https://cran.r-project.org/) and RStudio (https://www.rstudio.com/home/) on your laptop. Both are free.

INSTRUCTORS:
Gregg TeHennepe, Program Manager, Computational Sciences, The Jackson Laboratory
Gregg TeHennepe is the Program Manager for the Computational Sciences department at The Jackson Laboratory. Gregg coordinates planning and delivery for scientific software engineering, statistical analysis, and bioinformatics with the research faculty, research services, and the IT department.

Susan McClatchy, M.S., Bioinformatician and Research Program Manager, Center for Genome Dynamics, The Jackson Laboratory
Sue McClatchy is a Bioinformatician and Research Program Manager in the Center for Genome Dynamics (CGD) at the Jackson Laboratory, one of fifteen National Centers for Systems Biology supported by NIGMS. Sue has been instrumental in bringing Software Carpentry workshops to Jackson faculty, staff and collaborators, and supporting education outreach activities for CGD.