A new laboratory specialising in genomics is set to open at the North Carolina Research Campus (NCRC) in Kannapolis, North Carolina.
The Bill and Shari Graham Genomics Laboratory is a collaborative project from Catawba College and Eremid Genomic Services.
The Lab will offer the only undergraduate next-generation DNA sequencing (NGS) training in the United States.
“The Graham Genomics Lab is an example of the exceptional liberal arts education offered at Catawba College,” said Catawba President David P Nelson. “Students will engage in vital research, gaining broad and deep knowledge in a particular field, enabling them to put that knowledge to work for the common good.”
Eremid’s Dr Francisco Camacho, Director of the Graham Genomics Lab, and Professor Affiliate of Catawba College, will offer a unique undergraduate genomics course focusing on NGS, beginning in Spring 2023. Students will learn clinical laboratory procedures and develop the hands-on skills to perform the most challenging laboratory techniques.
“Training in these advanced genomics techniques is usually only available to graduate students,” said Dr Constance Rogers Lowery, Provost and Professor of Biology at Catawba. “It is exciting that training Catawba College’s undergraduates will be the focus of the laboratory. A unique element of this collaboration, is giving our students a window into the business side of science, along with exposing them to additional career pathways in science as a profession.”
Catawba students will participate in multi-disciplinary, multi-platform research from concept through to data delivery and interpretation.
Dr Camacho added: “Genomics is the wave of the future, and Eremid’s collaboration with Catawba College will provide the guidance for students to ride new cutting-edge technology and clinically relevant training to master that future.”