We are very pleased to announce that the Quadram Institute (QIB) has become the most recent organisation to join ELIXIR-UK, bringing our total number of member organisations to 20. You can view the full list of member organisations here.
QIB is based on Norwich Research Park, alongside other ELIXIR-UK members the Earlham Institute and the University of East Anglia. The Institute carries out cutting-edge research to understand how food and microbes interact to promote health and prevent disease. Understanding the complexity of big data generated by human cohorts is at the heart of this vision and in partnership with clinical and academic partners at the Norwich Research Park (Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital and the University of East Anglia) QIB is undertaking research to deliver healthier lives through innovation in gut health, microbiology and food.
Maria Traka has joined us as the Steering Committee representative for QIB. She is the Deputy Head of Food Databanks National Capability, which curates and manages the food composition data of the UK diets.
Members at QIB are already involved in the ELIXIR community. Paul Finglas, Maria Traka and Falk Hildebrand are all part of the ELIXIR Food and Nutrition Community and are now involved in a new implementation study as part of this community.
ELIXIR-UK is the UK node of ELIXIR, which unites organisations across Europe working on life science data. It coordinates, integrates and sustains bioinformatics resources across its member states and enables users in academia and industry to access services that are vital for their research. As a member, QIB will be part of discussions around these resources and have influence in this international community.
Maria Traka said: ‘Being a member of the ELIXIR-UK will complement and enhance QIB’s efforts in managing and safeguarding the increasing volume of data being generated by our publicly funded research and the bioinformatic resources needed to sustain these.’
If you work at QIB and would like to learn more about how you can get involved in ELIXIR now that your organisation is a member, you can sign up to our mailing list, see which focus groups and communities you can get involved in, or contact us directly for more information.
If you belong to an organisation which is not a member of ELIXIR-UK but you would like to be more involved in ELIXIR, you can find out more about the application process, sign up to our newsletter to see how you could benefit, or get in touch with us with any questions.