University of Chicago faculty and students interested in using biotechnology information tools and resources can ask questions, schedule consultations, or arrange training sessions with Vedana Vaidhyanathan from the John Crerar Library.
Vedana, the Biomedical Reference Librarian and Informatics Specialist at Crerar, recently attended a train-the-trainer course at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). There she learned new techniques for teaching NCBI resources, including BLAST, a tool that examines a piece of DNA or a protein and finds others in the system that are similar; Gene, NCBI’s repository for gene-specific information; and Cn3D, a tool that allows a user to see the 3D structure of a protein. Additionally Vedana has learned to teach epigenetic and small molecule resources so that she can share her knowledge with the University community.
NCBI resources are made freely available by the federal government, but they can be difficult to navigate. Vedana is here to help UChicago faculty, researchers and students with this type of research. In conjunction with her specialized training at NCBI, Vedana gained priority access to the researchers who design these tools and can rapidly contact them with advanced questions.
For assistance, consultations, and training sessions on NCBI tools and resources, contact Vedana at firstname.lastname@example.org.