Profession Notes

The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) will run a new national network of genetics researchers who work with microarrays, financed with a $409,000 five-year grant from the National Science Foundation. Seventeen institutions will be involved in this network that coordinates research on the use of microarray technology for gene expression. Paul Allison, professor of biostatistics in the School of Public Health at UAB, and project leader, says the network is designed to bring together researchers from different institutions and disciplines. "There are many questions remaining about how to use the technology and how to interpret the data," says Allison. For that reason, a wide variety of disciplines will be involved, including computer science, mathematics, statistics, bioinformatics, and measurement theory, as well as microarray technology itself. "Despite the growing number of published studies involving microarray technology, experts are still struggling to address issues relative to the reliability and validity of measurements made using the technology," Allison says. "The result is that the research literature may not always be up to the highest methodological standards." The two primary activities of the network will be an annual retreat for network scientists and others, to foster the open exchange of information, and a visiting scholars program. The first retreat is scheduled for this September in New Paltz, New York. In addition, the network will launch a website to support efforts of network scientists who are developing and using new methodologies and demonstrating their use though published papers, which is primarily how the information will be disseminated among the scientific community, according to Allison.