One of the primary goals of the Center is to support the development of Interdisciplinary Research Programs throughout the University of Memphis and the Memphis scientific community. The impetus behind such an approach is to leverage the Center’s resources to increase the research and training environment of the University of Memphis. By emphasizing interdisciplinary research, it is hoped that the Center can help to strengthen the UM educational programs that support graduate research.

Such interdisciplinary programs provide opportunity for additional sources of funding for research and education. Examples of sources of funding that were identified include the Whitaker Foundation, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund and the NSF Integrated Graduate Education and Research Training program. Two major areas of interdisciplinary research have been identified: Genomics (signaling, gene expression, function), and Computation (bioinformatics, computational chemistry, biostatistics).

The Center has vigorously supported research collaborations in these two areas throughout the University and it is expected that the Feinstone Center for Genomic Research will become a primary site for the development of interdisciplinary research. Furthermore, because of the Center’s close ties to the Hartwell Center for Biotechnology and Bioinformatics at SJCRH and the newly formed Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics at UTHSC, the Center has become a major point of contact between these institutions and University of Memphis research faculty.