Genomic BeadChip Analysis System Upgrade for Diversity Research - Project Summary/Abstract Funds are requested for an Illumina iScan System Upgrade with automation including these main components: Scientific instrument: the Illumina iScan System, and Main Accessories: Infinium Automated Pipetting System with ILASS, an Autoloader and the Infinium Water Circulator and TeFlow Rack Kit. Two of these components are replacing our existing aging instrumentation from year 2009 while the Infinium Automated Pipetting System with ILASS, and the Autoloader are components contributing to the upgrade with additional capabilities. The upgraded Illumina iScan system will be housed in the Genomics and Bioinformatics Shared Resource (GBSR) Laboratory of the University of Hawai’i Cancer Center (UHCC). GBSR is a well-established core facility established in 1999 and we typically serve projects engaged in biomedical research with the overwhelming majority of them being funded by NIH. The GBSR provides genotyping, gene expression and methylation services benefiting the investigators in the State of Hawai’i as well as their many external collaborators nation- wide. The Genomics Laboratory has been a genotyping center for a number of NIH-supported consortia (such as Multiethnic Cohort and PAGE). It was rated as outstanding in the last P30 CCSG grant renewal. We attribute our success to the fact that we really understand academic researchers and their needs in human genetics. Specific aspects at which we excel are: expert consultation, accuracy and quality control, affordable price, and rapid turnaround. Along with the success in federal grants awarded, thanks largely to the preliminary data we have created, the GBSR has now reached a point where our BeadChip analysis throughput with the current completely manual workflow is no longer sufficient. In order to increase the BeadChip analysis capacity to support several already funded NIH-funded projects, especially in DNA methylation analysis, we need to upgrade our system with Illumina automation for a higher sample throughput with more accuracy and reproducibility, while also replacing the aging Illumina iScan reader and acquiring capability to work with new format BeadChips. The requested equipment will support, at the minimum, 9 currently funded and 2 pending single and multiple PI NIH-funded projects, as well as developing projects, that span a wide range of genomic applications. Moreover, this upgrade will enhance all genomic research conducted at University of Hawai’i (UH) and greatly foster our collaborative multidisciplinary environment that shares large and unique resources, such as the Multiethnic Cohort study with large collection of uniquely annotated biospecimens, as well as a large SEER-funded tissue block discharge repository. The goal of research done at UH and UHCC is to understand health disparities observed in the population of Hawai’i and the US Affiliated Pacific Islands. The requested instrumentation upgrade will enhance studies on germline variation and changes in DNA methylation as potential contributors to these disparities.
