CBC

About Us

The Computational Biology Core (CBC) at Brown University provides essential computational support and expertise to advance research in human disease. We are a team dedicated to empowering researchers with the tools and knowledge needed to analyze complex biological data and make groundbreaking discoveries.

The CBC operates within a unique and collaborative structure at Brown, allowing us to leverage diverse resources and expertise:

The CBC was established by the Center for Computational Biology of Human Disease (CBHD), a center funded by a COBRE Institutional Development Award (IDeA) grant from the National Institute of General Medical Science. The CBHD's primary goal is to support and mentor junior investigators in human disease research that requires significant computational analysis of 'omics data. We work directly with CBHD project leaders and pilot award recipients, providing the computational expertise to help them achieve their research aims. This includes creating standard analytical pipelines (e.g., for quality control and RNA Seq analysis), developing customized analysis tools, and offering guidance on experimental design to ensure optimal data acquisition.
The CBC is also a team within Brown University's Center for Computation and Visualization (CCV), which is part of the Office of Information and Technology (OIT). The CCV's mission is to foster an environment where computational best practices, innovative solutions, and expert knowledge converge to build advanced research tools and enable new discoveries. This affiliation with the CCV strengthens our ability to provide cutting-edge computational solutions, taking full advantage of Brown's super-computing resources, research software engineering experience, and IT infrastructure resources. We embody the CCV's commitment to partnering with researchers, often through long-term collaborations.

Our Mission

The primary mission of the Computational Biology Core (CBC) is to provide support to junior investigators in the analysis and interpretation of high-throughput DNA/RNA sequencing datasets, encompassing both internally generated and publicly accessible data. The Core is also committed to facilitating scientific collaboration among COBRE projects. The long-term objective of the CBC is to establish a sustainable resource that addresses the evolving data analysis needs of genomic research across Brown University and its affiliated hospitals, complemented by training initiatives to develop the next cohort of junior investigators.