OpportunityTitle: Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Great Lakes Northern Forests CESU
AdditionalInformationOnEligibility: This financial assistance opportunity is being issued under a Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Program.  CESU&#191;s are partnerships that provide research, technical assistance, and education.  Eligible recipients must be a participating partner of the Great Lakes Northern Forests Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Program and contain a recognized statistical department with documented expertise in spatial and spatial-temporal statistical modeling.
Description: US Geological Survey, National Wildlife Heath Center, is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU Partner for research to characterize the limits of sensitivity of two emerging, low-cost NGS platforms. Oxford Nanopore&#191;s technology promises rapid time to pathogen identification as the platform produces data for analysis in real time, rather than having to wait hours or days required to complete a NGS run using a more conventional platform. Will characterize the sensitivity of the Oxford Nanopore Minion platform for the identification of a viral pathogen directly from a sample in as little as 30 minutes. Will also characterize the minimal amount of virus necessary in a sample for the assembly of a whole viral genome using the Illumina iSeq 100 system. The iSeq platform provides an ideal combination of high data density inherent in Illiumina technology but downscaled for single, high-value samples. Finally, will standardize the procedures we develop for the two platforms into SOPs, improve the analytical software for analysis on both platforms, and disseminate this information so that other NAHLN labs can quickly adopt the capability for rapid detection of emerging pathogens.
GrantorContactEmailDescription: Contract Specialist
GrantorContactText: Faith Graves 703-648-7356 &lt;br/&gt;fgraves@usgs.gov