Center for Biomedical Research Excellence, Epigenomics of Development and Disease

University Of North Dakota Epigenomics of Development and Disease OVERALL SUMMARY The goal of this COBRE 3 application is to continue to sustain research in epigenetic mechanisms underlying development and disease at the University of North Dakota by providing ongoing support to the Epigenetics Working Group (EWG). In COBREs 1 and 2 the EWG made significant progress towards development of an epigenetics/epigenomics program through support of individual projects, building our core group by recruitment of epigenetics experts, and supporting faculty development through mentoring and accountability programs. We established a comprehensive Genomics Core to meet the needs of the epigenetics community and provided technical and financial support that increased the number of researchers in our community utilizing epigenetic approaches. In Phases 1 and 2, our COBRE Investigators made important discoveries that resulted in 64 papers published in high impact journals, 152 poster and oral presentations by Project Leaders at invited seminars or scientific meetings, and the awarding of more than $26 million in external funding from R01, R21, DoD, NSF and foundation grants. In this proposal, we seek to maintain this momentum and transition our group towards sustainability through the following strategies: (1) Promote high-quality research, expand the reach of the group through collaborations with experts in other fields, and support innovative, cross-disciplinary research through a Pilot Project Program; (2) Supporting the Genomics Core to enable performance of cutting-edge research, and empower researchers through training and educational workshops in bench and computational epigenetics; and (3) Promote long-term sustainability of the group through building partnerships with other IDeA state groups and cohorts and expanding expertise to other fields such as clinical/translational science and Artificial Intelligence. Our long-term goal is to transition the EWG into a sustainable scientific center dedicated to understanding molecular mechanisms of developmental and pathological disorders that will attract top talent, train the next generation of scientists, and become a national hub for cutting edge epigenetics research.