Sallyport - The Magazine of Rice University - Spring 2002

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Through The Sallyport Spring 2002 VOL.58, NO.3 Rice University Joins Research Initiative It used to be that all a biologist needed was a simple lab and a few specimens. These days, biological research is advanced by multidisciplinary teams with ready access to the latest technologies and resources. All too often, though, a single institution even a university cannot reach the critical mass of researchers and funds necessary to unravel the profound complexities of biological phenomena. But institutions can band together and pool resources, and that is the motivation behind a new powerhouse biological research and education initiative called the Gulf Coast Consortia (GCC). Funded in part by a $3.5 million grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation of Los Angeles, GCC is composed of six public and private institutions based in the Houston/Galveston region: Rice University, Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Houston, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, and the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Baylor professor Wah Chiu, chair of the GCC oversight committee, sees the consortia becoming a model for the international scientific community because of the high level of interinstitutional cooperation involved. This new joint venture illustrates very well two hallmarks of Rice education and research: our interdisciplinary bent and our strong interinstitutional focus, says Rice president Malcolm Gillis. The consortia not only builds on previous collaborative efforts, but it also provides a new foundation for further joint work in biosciences. The consortia will have two major components: education and research. The educational component includes an expansion of the Keck Center for Computational Biology, which was initiated in 1990 by Keck Foundation funding to Rice and Baylor College of Medicine and later expanded to include the University of Houston and the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. This educational component will involve 90 faculty from the six institutions who will train more than 100 students in the latest advances in computational, mathematical, physical, and chemical biology. In so doing, we will help address the national shortage of researchers at the interface of biology with computational and physical science disciplines, said Kathleen Matthews, dean of the Wiess School of Natural Sciences at Rice and co-chair of the GCC oversight committee. Each of the GCC members has been actively hiring faculty devoted to cross-disciplinary research and training in modern biological and biomedical sciences. In this enterprise, we are expanding our interactions and pooling our respective institutional strengths to create a novel training and research environment. A portion of the Keck Foundation grant will be used to establish the Gulf Coast Consortium for Magnetic Resonance and the purchase of highresolution magnetic resonance imaging devices. This technology will provide scientists with greater capabilities for exploring detailed, threehttp://www.rice.edu/sallyport/2002/spring/sallyport/research.html (1 of 2) [10/30/2009 10:56:22 AM]
Through The Sallyport dimensional photos and dynamics of biological molecules, which will enhance scientific discoveries related to diseases. In addition, researchers can visualize in a noninvasive manner detailed features including genetic makeup within organs of small animals. For more information, visit the Gulf Coast Consortia website at http://www. gcc.keckcenter.org. Margot Dimond [ back to top ] Featured Stories | Through the Sallyport | On the Bookshelf | Who's Who Students | Arts | Scoreboard | Yesteryear | Previous Issues Copyright ©2002 Rice University http://www.rice.edu/sallyport/2002/spring/sallyport/research.html (2 of 2) [10/30/2009 10:56:22 AM]
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Sallyport - The Magazine of Rice University - Spring 2002

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