Bioinformatics Core Challenges & Opportunities - Pre-Conference Workshop at MAD SSCi 2026
This year, MAD SSCi is introducing a dedicated pre-conference workshop tailored to the unique challenges faced by bioinformatics cores. Join fellow core leaders and staff for a half-day of candid discussion on building sustainable, high-impact computational facilities.
You'll hear directly from bioinformatics core leaders at Rutgers University, Johns Hopkins University, Virginia Commonwealth University, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, along with consulting perspective from Chris Cherry, across four focused sessions:
Business & Funding Models (Panel Discussion) - Discuss charging models (hourly, percent-effort, per-sample, and more), institutional expectations, and institutional tolerance for operational deficits.
Strategic Planning (Presentation & Group Discussion) - Right-size your core beyond staffing with needs assessments, infrastructure investment, data storage and management, training and the impact of AI.
Demonstrating Value Added (Roundtable) - Measuring and communicating impact: tracking publications and grants, reporting metrics to leadership, and using various software platforms.
Engagement (Presentation & Discussion) - Building working relationships between bioinformatics and molecular cores, including integrated workflows with molecular cores. Discussion will focus on why these partnerships are key to getting bioinformatics involved at the grant-writing stage, where effort and resources can be planned from the start.
Details:
● Date: Wednesday, August 26, 2026, 1:00–5:00 PM
● Location: The Heldrich, New Brunswick, NJ
● Cost: $50
● Attendance Limit: 40
Register Now
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Amy Olex
Lead Bioinformatics Data Engineer
Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond VA
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