Jovanny Zabaleta
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-New Orleans, LA·Genetics
Reading DNA and RNA at scale has become central to cancer research, but the instruments, sample preparation chemistry and analysis pipelines are expensive and demanding enough that individual labs rarely run them alone. This grant supports the Translational Genomics Core of the Louisiana Cancer Research Consortium, a shared sequencing facility that provides those capabilities to investigators across an institution and beyond, with an emphasis on supporting projects in a center focused on viral causes of cancer.
- Fields
Genetics
Medicine & Clinical Research
Biochemistry
- Topics
next-generation sequencing
RNA sequencing
RNAseq
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jun 2027
What they work on
- Provide next-generation sequencing services, including whole transcriptome and RNA sequencing, whole exome sequencing, and array-based DNA methylation and SNP analysis, to cancer research project leaders.
- Support single-cell and spatially resolved sequencing using 10x Genomics platforms, so investigators can profile individual cells and retain information about where in a tissue each measurement originated.
- Deliver ChIP-seq, which maps where proteins bind across the genome, along with training, instrument access and troubleshooting for investigators in the Center for Translational Viral Oncology.
- Coordinate sequencing with bioinformatics collaborators through multi-institutional analysis pipelines so investigators receive interpreted data, and continue updating instrumentation and protocols.
More about the research
The core offers a range of next-generation sequencing approaches: whole transcriptome and RNA sequencing to measure which genes are active, whole exome sequencing to read the protein-coding portion of the genome, array-based DNA methylation and SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism, single-letter DNA variation) analysis, single-cell sequencing to profile individual cells rather than tissue averages, and ChIP-seq (chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing), which maps where proteins bind the genome. Recent additions include 10x Genomics platforms for single-cell and spatially resolved sequencing, which preserves where in a tissue each measurement came from. Beyond generating data, the core provides discounted pricing, training, instrument access, troubleshooting and analysis support for research project leaders in the Center for Translational Viral Oncology, with data analysis routed through multi-institutional bioinformatics pipelines. Sequencing work in the core is coordinated with bioinformatics collaborators in genetics and at a neighboring university's cancer and viral bioinformatics program, so investigators receive interpreted results rather than raw files. The core also continues updating instrumentation and protocols, and has contributed to multi-institutional cancer research programs, including a collaboration with a Florida cancer center in which the core director serves as a research project investigator.
Why it matters
Shared genomics facilities determine which questions smaller or newly independent cancer labs can realistically ask. By supplying sequencing, single-cell and spatial profiling, methylation analysis and linked bioinformatics support at reduced cost, this core enables cancer and viral oncology projects in Louisiana that individual investigators could not run alone, and provides training that builds local research capacity.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Jian Ouyang
Medical University of South Carolina, SC·Genetics
Provide reliable, cost-effective next-generation sequencing library preparation, including bulk RNA-seq, ChIP-seq, ATAC-seq and methylation sequencing, for cancer center investigators.
James Papin
University of Oklahoma-Health Sciences Center, OK·Biochemistry
Provide next-generation DNA and RNA sequencing, and bioinformatics analysis of combined genomic, proteomic and metabolomic data, to cancer center members and other investigators.
Matteo Pellegrini
University of California-Los Angeles, CA·Computer Science
Process bulk, single-cell and spatial transcriptomic data for consortium projects using established pipelines, and return interpretable results to collaborators without extensive computational expertise.
The school
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-New Orleans: 3 labs on PI Pages, $80M a year on research, 24 research doctorates a year.
More about Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-New Orleans
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