The Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research and VCU Libraries have collaborated on several programs over the last five years to educate the VCU community about how to use databases from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). These sources are central to many bioinformatic, genomic, basic science and clinical research projects. 

This fall, these offerings include a self-paced course exploring NCBI Gene, BLAST, Variation tools, GEO and GDC. Enrollment will remain open for the fall semester. The course can be completed at any time. If you complete all six modules of the course, and earn a grade of 80 percent or higher on the end-of-module quiz, you will obtain a certificate of completion and can list the course as professional development on your CV.

The course is designed for all researchers, faculty and students. 

• Enroll anytime
• Open enrollment for Fall 2021
• Self-paced
• Certificate of completion available
• Professional development opportunity

Are you interested but worry that your biology background is not strong enough? The course offers a biology review as the first module that covers the basics of transcription, translation, genetic mutations and primer design.  Each module concludes with a quiz to assess understanding of how to navigate each database, and what information can be found.  

For questions about this course, please email Stacey Wahl, liaison to the basic sciences, Health Sciences Library, at swahl@vcu.edu, Erin Carrillo, science research librarian, Cabell Library, at emcarrillo@vcu.edu, or Amy Olex, senior bioinformatics specialist, C. Kenneth and Dianne Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research, at alolex@vcu.edu.