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An Informal Workshop

Biological Database Integration

June 8 - June 10, 1994

Pushchino, Russia

We invite friends and colleagues interested in the integration of
biological databases to join us for an informal workshop in Pushchino,
Russia, in late spring.  There are substantial benefits be gained by
successfully integrating existing biological databases. There are
numerous Russian databases that need cross referencing with Western
counter parts. Toward this end, we wish to foster an environment in
which researchers exchange insights, data, and tools. This particular
meeting will focus on topics relating to metabolism, since the new
availability of DBEMP --- with its extensive encoding of the
literature relating to metabolism --- will offer numerous categories
of data that have not been available before.  In addition, we will
invite a number of representatives from the Russian scientific
community to discuss their biological databases. It is, perhaps, worth
noting that the Russian scientific community developed a major
computational infrastructure similar to that which has developed in
Europe, America and Japan.  They created substantial collections of
data ranging from small efforts done by single experts curating a
limited class of data to huge collections on topics like metabolism,
medicinal properties of compounds, 3D structural data, sequence data,
culture collections, and genetic markers. We intend to provide a
framework where the contents of these databases can be discussed
examined, and compared with what is currently available in Europe and
America.

The meeting will be hosted by Evgenii Selkov, the leader of the team
that has developed DBEMP over the past decade (the team now includes
24 individuals).  The registration fee ($550 US), will cover housing
and meals, as well as transportation to and from the Moscow airport
(Pushchino is about 100 kilometers or so south of Moscow). In
addition, each participant will be given a coupon worth $400 towards
a purchase of DBEMP (normally sold at $400 for individuals and $4000
for commercial users). The database includes a detailed encoding of
all of the quantitative data in over 10,000 articles on metabolism
and enzymes. Graphical representations of the pathways described in
DBEMP will also be available. A Prolog version of the pathways will
also be made available, and we should be able to recast it to any
other desired format on machines that will be available at the
workshop.

This meeting will not feature scheduled talks; rather, instead we
envision organizing impromptu discussions on topics of common interest
relating to the goal of integrating Russian biological databases with
other international databases. We anticipate a fair amount of
discussion relating to metabolism and enzymes, but other topics such
as availability and exchange of data relating to phylogeny,
alignments, compounds, motifs, and maps will certainly come up.

We expect to spend about half of the time discussing the contents, use
and how to curate the DBEMP, with its encoding of 10,000 articles on
metabolism and enzymes. Informal presentations on the contents of
this database, on how it can be connected to existing databases, and
how it can be used to address specific computational problems will be
discussed. We plan on offering tables that interrelate records in the
DBEMP with specific enzyme numbers, specific organisms, and specific
metabolic pathways.

The remainder of the meeting will include poster sessions and informal
demos by representatives of other database efforts within the FSU. We
hope to include a number of the larger efforts, including databases
relating to sequence analysis, the study of proteins, human genetics,
medicine, and pharmacology. If you are actively involved in either
the generation or use of integrated biological data, we urge you to
consider joining us.

Workshop supporters:

Chris Beecher 
Anthony Bonner 
Terry Gaasterland 
Pat Gillevet 
Nat Goodman 
Niels Larsen 
Natalia Maltsev 
George Michaels 
Harold Morowitz 
Ross Overbeek 
Evgenii Selkov 
Rick Stevens 
Alexander Zamyatnin

Registration Information

The workshop is limited to 125 participants. To register for this
workshop, complete the registration form and mail with your check made
payable to George Mason University, or credit card authorization to:

Center for Professional Development 
Business Office, Mail Stop 3G3 
George Mason University 
Fairfax, VA 22030-4444

To register by FAX, fill out the form below and send it via FAX to
703/993-2112. Follow up by mailing the original enrollment form with
your payment. Registration fees must be received by May 30, 1994.

For further registration information, please call the Center for
Professional Development at (703)993-2090.



Center for Professional Development

Mail Stop 3G3
Fairfax, Virginia 22030-4444
Workshop Questions can be directed to either 

Ross Overbeek (overbeek@mcs.anl.gov)
George Michaels (gmichael@mason1.gmu.edu) 

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NOTE: If you would like to use Mosaic to register for this conference,
the URL is: "http://csi.gmu.edu/gsm/ConferenceForm.html"
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Russian Metabolic Database Conference Registration

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