{"543501":{"#nid":"543501","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Facilitates Bioinformatics Push in Colombia","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EScience and technology may not be one\u2019s first thoughts at the mention of Colombia, the Latin American country that is emerging from more than half a century of armed conflict. Much about Colombia is lost in stereotypes, including its robust educational system, according to \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.biology.gatech.edu\/people\/king-jordan\u0022\u003EKing Jordan\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cColombia has consistently defied my expectations arising from what we hear in the news,\u201d he says. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EAn associate professor in the School of Biology and the director of Georgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/bioinformatics.gatech.edu\/faculty\u0022\u003EBioinformatics Graduate Program\u003C\/a\u003E, Jordan is poised to contribute to the country\u2019s education and development of a knowledge-based economy. For six weeks beginning on June 20, 2016, he will conduct a Fulbright-supported workshop at \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.utch.edu.co\/portal\/es\/\u0022\u003EUniversidad Tecnol\u00f3gica del Choc\u00f3\u003C\/a\u003E (UTech) to train Colombians in the use of databases and computer programs to analyze genomic information. He will also help develop a curriculum for a post-Bachelor specialization in bioinformatics.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EBioinformatics is where computer science and biology intersect. Scientists in the field develop and apply computational tools to address fundamental biological problems. Bioinformatics analyses of human genome sequences can uncover individuals\u2019 genetic ancestry, as well as traits such as predisposition to \u0026nbsp;disease. At Georgia Tech, Jordan uses bioinformatics to investigate the relationship between human genetic variation and health.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EThis summer trip continues Jordan\u2019s years-long collaboration with Colombia and other Latin America countries as they strive to build national capacity for bioinformatics research. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003ELatin American populations have a mixture of ancestry from Africa, Europe, and the Americas, and Colombia\u2019s ancestry is particularly diverse, Jordan says. The genetic mixing that occurred in the region over the past 500 years has created genome sequences that, Jordan says, \u201care novel in containing combinations of ancestry-specific alleles that never previously existed on the same genomic background. \u0026nbsp;We want to understand the health-related implications of the emergence of this novel set of admixed genomes in Latin America.\u201d \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EColombia has about 11 million inhabitants of African descent, making it the country with the third highest population of African descendants in the Americas, after Brazil and the U.S. \u0026nbsp;Located on the Pacific Coast, the state of Choc\u00f3 has a uniquely African genetic heritage with admixture from Europe and the Americas, Jordan says. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EThe people of Choc\u00f3 have an intense interest in both genetic ancestry and predisposition to disease, says Miguel Medina. The UTech professor of biology first met Jordan in 2014 at a conference where Jordan presented bioinformatics analyses of genomes from inhabitants of Medell\u00edn, who are predominantly of European descent. Medina invited Jordan to do similar work on the inhabitants of Choc\u00f3, 94% of whom are of African descent. To help establish bioinformatics formally in UTech, Medina and Jordan applied for a Fulbright grant to support Jordan\u2019s visit this summer as a Fulbright Specialist in Biology Education. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EDespite a number of studies on the genetic ancestry of Colombians, little research has focused on the Afro-Colombian population. \u0026nbsp;Characterizing the genetic heritage of Choc\u00f3 would a fuller picture of the scope of ancestry in Latin American populations, Jordan says, as well as reveal connections between genetic ancestry and health.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EWorking with the National Institutes of Health, Jordan and Medina have built a database of genomic sequences from samples provided by 100 inhabitants of Choc\u00f3. This pilot project was funded by the Denning Global Engagement Seed Fund, from Georgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.provost.gatech.edu\/reporting-units\/vice-provost-international-initiatives\u0022\u003EOffice of the Vice-Provost for International Initiatives.\u003C\/a\u003E That funding flowed from Georgia Tech\u2019s strategic goal to expand its global footprint, Jordan explains. However, he emphasizes, the samples and the data generated by that funding belong to the people of Choc\u00f3. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EFor data analysis, UTech has formed a collaborative research partnership with \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.bios.co\/\u0022\u003EBIOS\u003C\/a\u003E, Colombia\u2019s Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology; Georgia Tech; and the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/panambioinfo.org\u0022\u003EPanAmerican Bioinformatics Institute\u003C\/a\u003E. Called \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/chocogen.com\u0022\u003EChocoGen,\u003C\/a\u003E the project aims discover and characterize the genetic heritage of the people of Choc\u00f3. \u0026nbsp;ChocoGen researchers are analyzing the genomic sequences of donors from Choc\u00f3 to characterize their genetic ancestry; the quantity and nature of admixture between ancestral populations; and the possible relationship between ancestry, admixture, and genetic determinants of health and disease. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EOver the course of six weeks this summer, Jordan will be training a diverse group of Colombian bioinformatics enthusiasts, teaching, and developing curriculum. And with Medina, Jordan will meet with government leaders to secure funding for future research and development in bioinformatics. His hope is not only to set the stage for a new research activity to take root but also to ensure that it grows strong. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"School of Biology\u2019s King Jordan Receives Fulbright Award To Assist Capacity Building"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Biology\u2019s King Jordan Receives Fulbright Award To Assist Capacity Building\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"School of Biology\u2019s King Jordan Receives Fulbright Award To Assist Capacity Building"}],"uid":"32503","created_gmt":"2016-06-09 13:15:51","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:21:53","author":"Scotty Smith","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-06-09T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-06-09T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"543511":{"id":"543511","type":"image","title":"King Jordan (left) and Miguel Medina spent many days in Georgia Tech preparing for the Fulbright-supported bioinformatics workshop that begins on June 20, 2016, at Universidad Tecnol\u00f3gica del Choc\u00f3, in Colombia.","body":null,"created":"1465826400","gmt_created":"2016-06-13 14:00:00","changed":"1475895333","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:33","alt":"King Jordan (left) and Miguel Medina spent many days in Georgia Tech preparing for the Fulbright-supported bioinformatics workshop that begins on June 20, 2016, at Universidad Tecnol\u00f3gica del Choc\u00f3, in Colombia.","file":{"fid":"90822","name":"capture_0.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/capture_0.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/capture_0.png","mime":"image\/png","size":12049,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/capture_0.png?itok=hk9igEuV"}}},"media_ids":["543511"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"}],"categories":[{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"172115","name":"Bioinformatics Graduate Program"},{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"4732","name":"Colombia"},{"id":"5268","name":"King Jordan"},{"id":"172116","name":"Universidad Tecnol\u00f3gica del Choc\u00f3"},{"id":"172117","name":"UTech"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA. Maureen Rouhi\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDirector of Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECollege of Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maureen.rouhi@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}