For Release: August 21, 2009
Contact: dms.communications@dartmouth.edu, 603-650-1492
Stimulus Funds Awarded to Support Northern New England Fiberoptic Backbone
Hanover, N.H.—The Dartmouth-New Hampshire lung diseases partnership has been awarded almost $2 million in economic stimulus funding from the National Institutes of Health for a fiberoptic backbone to connect Northern New England. The two-year supplement, effective this month, will provide for development of an internet network to link higher education and research institutions for large-scale collaborative regional studies.
"New Hampshire, along with Vermont and Maine, is a black hole of connectivity," said Dr. Bruce A. Stanton, Dartmouth Medical School professor of physiology and the principal investigator of the grant. "Our aim is to turn on the light."
The funds, from the National Center for Research Resources and through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, add on to Dartmouth's Lung Biology Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) grant, which Stanton also heads. This grant boosts the regional effort for small states in to share information for their biomedical research projects and other joint ventures.
Our aim is to
turn on the light.
—Dr. Bruce Stanton
New Hampshire is part of the Northeast Cyberinfrastrucure Consortium, launched in 2006 with Vermont, Maine, Rhode Island and Delaware to promote the use of common research resources. Each state has requested an administrative supplement to establish portions of the fiber network to connect lead intuitions and reach data centers from Maine to Delaware.
The integrated connectivity will strengthen opportunities for regional biomedical research collaboration and workforce development, and enable fast data transfer for the New England Translational Research Network, an association of health and research centers for clinical and translation studies.
The funding, in conjunction with the University of New Hampshire, supports core bioinformatics facilities and faculty development for Dartmouth and other projects throughout the region. Large-scale studies of genes (genomics) and proteins (proteomics) involve a new generation of deep sequencing technology that generates terabytes of information. They entail meticulous sorting and require sufficient high-speed capacity for cooperative data analysis.
Working with Stanton are senior investigators Dr. Jason Moore, DMS professor of genetics and of community and family medicine, and Douglas Green and Scott Valcourt of the University of New Hampshire.
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