“At the dawn of the third decade of microbial genomics, and well into the information age, the establishment of a national microbiome data center can pave the way to understanding the Earth’s microbiome.” –Nikos Kyrpides
Following the June 2017 ASM Microbe Town Hall on “Envisioning a National Microbiome Data Collaborative,” everyone interested is encouraged to sign up for the newly launched community page – http://www.trelliscience.com/NMDC – for the National Microbiome Data Collaborative (NMDC) through Trellis, a communication platform from AAAS.
Front row (left to right): Penny Chisholm (MIT), Miyoung Chun (Kavli Foundation), Mary Ann Moran (University of Georgia), Ed DeLong (University of Hawaii), Emiley Eloe-Fadrosh (JGI)
Back row (left to right): Chris Martin (Kavli Foundation), Tanja Woyke (JGI), Stefano Bertuzzi (ASM), Natalia Ivanova (JGI), Torben Nielsen (JGI), Kathy Yelick (LBNL), Norm Pace (University of Colorado, Boulder), Elisha Wood-Charlson (University of Hawaii), Jim Tiedje (Michigan State University), Claire Fraser (University of Maryland), Nikos Kyrpides (JGI), Ari Patrinos (CUSP/New York University)
The Town Hall called for the establishment of a National Microbiome Data Collaborative to integrate diverse areas of microbiome research, including those in health, agriculture, environment, and earth sciences. The NMDC community site through Trellis has been established as a central reference point to learn more about the Collaborative, engage in discussions to help shape this effort and keep current with ongoing activities. Through this community page, members can:
- Read about the NMDC vision and mission.
- Share your perspective on current bottlenecks, scientific challenges, data types, and organization.
- Review the slides and discussion topics from the ASM Microbe 2017: Envisioning a National Microbiome Data Collaborative Town Hall.
The Town Hall resulted from a workshop held at the JGI earlier this year to discuss the need for a National Microbiome Data Collaborative to efficiently manage the microbiome datasets that are globally accumulating. In turn, the workshop was spurred by views raised in a 2016 Trends in Microbiology paper spearheaded by Prokaryote Super Program Head Nikos Kyrpides and colleagues Emiley Eloe-Fadrosh and Natalia Ivanova. The publication complemented the White House’s launch of a National Microbiome Initiative focused on comparing microbial communities across ecosystems to identify the “organizing principles” that shape all microbiomes. By integrating and harnessing all available microbiome data and metadata, the JGI team wrote, researchers could conduct larger-scale comparative analyses in order to address global challenges related to energy, environment, health and agriculture.
Ed DeLong (at podium) from the University of Hawaii and Claire Fraser (at table) from the Institute for Genome Sciences at the University of Maryland School of Medicine chaired the ASM Microbe Town Hall.
Your participation and input is critical for making the National Microbiome Data Collaborative a key resource in the field. Spread the word and help pioneer the future of microbiome research!
For additional information on the National Microbiome Data Collaborative, contact Emiley Eloe-Fadrosh ([email protected]) or Nikos Kyrpides ([email protected]).