JSU Biology Professor Dr. LaJoyce Debro
Participated in GCAT Workshop

Dr. LaJoyce Debro participated in the Genome Consortium for Active Teaching (GCAT) which was sponsored by the National Science Foundation and held at Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA, on July 10-14, 2007. Forty faculty members in biology, chemistry, computer science, and mathematics gathered for the intensive interdisciplinary training in microarray analysis.

The purpose of the workshop was to provide genomic training to faculty teaching in primarily undergraduate institutions. Workshop participants are expected to integrate microarray technology into their courses and/or student-research. Participants are prepared to provide opportunities for undergraduates to work with real DNA microarray data so they can discover firsthand how biology is an informational science, and organisms are complex systems. Activities during the workshop included an introduction to microarrays; software training; hands-on experience with data analysis; and wet-lab experiences with DNA microarray probe production and hybridization.

The workshop faculty assisting with mathematics and software training were Laurie Heyer (Davidson College) and Dave Kushner (Dickinson College). Workshop faculty assisting in the laboratory with probe production and hybridization were Consuelo Alvarez (Longwood University), Anne Rosenwald (Georgetown University), and Todd Eckdahl (Missouri Western State University). Workshop facilitators were Malcolm Campbell (Davidson College) and Edison Fowlks (Hampton University).

The next workshop will be held at California State University in Fullerton, Ca, on July 13-19, 2008. Teams from mathematics, computer science, chemistry, and biology are welcome.

For additional information visit the GCAT website at GCAT -Sponsored Microarray Workshops.

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