OUR CUSTOMERS DEFINE THE RELATIONSHIP

We find that some potential customers want to maintain a detailed understanding of all the computational steps taken in data analysis and model formulation and testing. These customers are interested in, and have time for, their own hands-on involvement in the computational biology. Our service to such customers includes the education and training necessary to establish integrative bioinformatics and advanced modeling techniques among their laboratory’s core competencies. We offer informal workshops and formal classroom training in our methodology and software.

Other customers prefer to stay focused on experimental work. They see the power of computational tools, but cannot spare the time required to become expert in the methods of modern computational biology. Neither can they afford to hire a full-time staff person with expertise in this area. Such customers often choose complete outsourcing of their modeling and integrative bioinformatics work, relying on us to write detailed project reports or technical sections of their papers submitted for publication.

Another approach is to recruit a graduate student or postdoc with computational, physics, physical chemistry or engineering skills and who aims to make modeling a significant part of their biomedical research career development. This can work very well if the student does not need to be doing experiments full-time. Leveraging student interest is especially powerful if the lab adopts software tools that prevent common errors and manage the modeling process so that knowledge and expertise do not disappear when the student moves on. Some labs take this approach and then occasionally invest in expert consulting to review progress. When speed matters, a scientific consultant can help solve the difficult problems that are easy after decades of modeling experience. Consultants succeed by bringing a new perspective and by establishing a track record of delivering significant value.

Integrative BioInformatics supports the entire spectrum from hands-on partnering to outsourcing entire projects. If you are unsure how much you can or should do yourselves, contact us at Integrative BioInformatics.