Computational Genomics and Cloud Computing at El Paso Community College - El Paso Community College (EPCC) is a two-year educational institution with a large population of first-generation students and “non-traditional” students. A total of 25,157 students enrolled in the Fall 2023 semester at EPCC. In Fall 2022, 4,512 EPCC students were pursuing the Associate of Science and 3,211 the Associate of Applied Science degrees. In the 2022-2023 Academic year, a total of 8,734 students enrolled in introductory Biology, Microbiology and Anatomy and Physiology courses. Most of these students are pursuing careers in biomedical fields. Basic principles of genetics, genomics and human disease are included in course objectives and Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs), but computational genomics and cloud computing are not part of the current curriculum. Development and introduction of curriculum modules tailored to our student population, course objectives and SLOs will be used to fill this gap. Students and faculty will be exposed to Computational Genomics and cloud computing through the development of curriculum modules and implemented in courses required in biomedical sciences and health related majors. The specific objectives are: To develop three curriculum modules based on existing resources provided by the GDSCN, NCBI, (using the AWS cloud), and NIH Cloud computing platforms such as AnVIL, for the introduction of students to genomics and cloud computing. Modules will be implemented in a total of 8 Biology, Anatomy and Physiology and Microbiology courses per semester. Hands-on activities will illustrate how genomic data is used by researchers for genome assembly, annotation, and variant analysis. To provide training for faculty to successfully implement the modules in the courses they teach. Two hands-on workshops per year will be conducted at EPCC during Faculty Development Week. To disseminate the modules to other community colleges in the US by doing presentations at professional organizations conferences in which community college faculty and students participate. Through classroom instruction and hands-on activities, students will experience how genomic data is used by researchers for genome assembly, annotation, and genomic variant analysis. Also, since educational material will be made available via the Hub and shared with others, the impact of this work will not be limited to just the SITE awardees.
