Integrative Bioinformatics

The Integrative Bioinformatics Institute VU (IBIVU) is a recently founded institute by the Faculty of Sciences and the Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences with strong support from the central university. The IBIVU is closely associated with researchers of the VU Medical Centre and the Faculty of Psychology and Pedagogics, while tight links exist with the Centre for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research (CNCR), the Centre for Research on BioComplex Systems (CRBCS) and the VUMC Brain Imaging Centre. The IBIVU tries to integrate the VU Bioinformatics activities at three levels:

It integrates information from all layers of genomics: from DNA sequence data via molecules and cells to patients and ecosystems
It integrates informatics, mathematics and visualisation techniques required for optimal analysis of genomics data
It integrates medical, ecological and social genomics with bioinformatics
To drive these integrative initiatives, the IBIVU has a core Bioinformatics unit which develops bioinformatics methods to analyse sequence data and predict protein structure and function.
In collaboration with the Department of Molecular Cell Physiology at the Vrije Universiteit we are also integrating various genomic data sets and methods to increase our understanding of 'vertical' genomics; i.e. the coding and regulation through all genomic levels from DNA sequence to cell functioning: from genotype to phenotype.