Glycobiology research and training center

The Glycobiology Research and Training Center (GRTC) specializes in the research and development in the emerging world of glycobiology. Located in the University of California, San Diego, the center is co-led by Ajit Varki and Jeff Esko. The primary goal of the GRTC is to facilitate and enhance glycobiology research and training by University of California faculty with the minimum possible paperwork and bureaucracy.

History

The first steps in organizing glycobiology research at UCSD occurred in 1990, with the formation of a glycobiology program within the UCSD Rebecca and John Moores Cancer Center. Cooperative interactions with other UCSD faculty and with the glycobiology/carbohydrate chemistry program at the nearby Burnham Institute for Medical Research helped to enhance the activities of the program. The very nature of glycobiology is that it transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries. Thus, many of the research activities conducted by the expanding faculty no longer fit under the designation of cancer research. Meanwhile, the program and the core resource generated interest from a wide variety of UCSD faculty, ranging from marine biologists to bioengineers to medical clinicians, representing a diverse spectrum of research activities. For these reasons, it was agreed that the cancer-related research of the faculty associated with the cancer center would be subsumed under a larger cancer biology program. However, several faculty both within and outside the cancer center expressed a keen interest in maintaining the concept of a distinct organization that encourages and enhances research in glycobiology. An application for a glycobiology research and training center was submitted in late 1998, and formally approved by Chancellor R. Dynes on June 1,1999. During the initial phases of growth, the center co-directors Ajit Varki and Jeff Esko were advised by a steering committee composed of Jamey Marth, Yitzhak Tor, Victor Vacquier and Herman Van Halbeek. Since that time, the center has grown by incorporating many more scientists interested in glycobiology, not only from UCSD and the surrounding institutions, but also from all the other campuses of the University of California system. Meanwhile, the core resource also expanded its operations under the directorships of Bradley Hayes (2002-03), and Anup Datta (2004-present). Throughout this period of growth the GRTC has maintained its core philosophy of remaining a "virtual center" without walls, and focused on its primary mission: to facilitate and enhance glycobiology research and training among University of California faculty with the minimum possible paperwork and bureaucracy.

Symposium

The 12th Annual San Diego Glycobiology Symposium will be on March 13-14, 2009, and it brings together laboratories in San Diego, And elsewhere in California, that have a primary or major interest in glycobiology. The objectives are to exchange information on the latest advances in the field, and to promote interactions between members of these laboratories and other attendees from academia, biotechnology and the pharmaceutical industry.

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