About Jashore University, Bangladesh

Jashore University, Bangladesh, the first public university in Jashore, has commenced its first collaborative Omics Logic Bioinformatics & Data Science Training Program for undergraduate and postgraduate students with a view to empower biological and biomedical research through education. The university is located at Sadhinata Sarak in Jessore Sadar Upazila.

The Faculty of Biological Sciences and Technology, Jashore University of Science and Technology (JUST) established the Genome Center as there was a need to conduct genetic research for the discovery of genetic disorders as well as the identification of cancer genes. Facilities of high priority such as Genome Library Preparation, PCR, and Real-Time PCR have been ensured in this center. An important goal of the Genome Center is to spread the knowledge of bioinformatics in Bangladesh and establish the Genome Center as a Bioinformatics Training and Research Institute. 

Presently, Professor Dr. Md. Anwar Hossain is the Director, of the Genome Centre and Vice-Chancellor at Jashore University of Science and Technology. Professor Dr. Md. Iqbal Kabir Jahid is the Associate Director, the Genome Centre, Dean, the Faculty of Biological Science and Technology, and Chairman, the Department of Microbiology at Jashore University of Science and Technology.

OmicsLogic Partnership University Program

As a part of their future plan to improve the use of Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) data for oncology, genetic disorders, and precision medicine research, a virtual Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Jashore University of Science and Technology, Bangladesh, and Pine Biotech, Inc. USA on September 27, 2022, to provide an online data-driven research curriculum and training programs on big data bioinformatics for students and faculties. 

The collaboration is through the OmicsLogic Partnership University Program, which provides personalized training and research experience to help faculty and students to develop critical scientific thinking, using modern bioinformatics, and data science practices on industry-relevant problems. The MoU coverage is focused on:

• Bioinformatics and Data Science Research Meetings, Webinars, and Hands-on Workshops.
• Collaborative Partnership Program: Personalized Training and Research Experience. 
• University Faculty Project Based Curriculum, Coursework, and Commercialization.  
• Independent Faculty/Student Research Projects and Mentor-Guided Research Publications. 
• Part-Time/Full-Time Paid Industrial Internship: Campus Growth Ambassadors, Student Mentors, and Business and Marketing Interns. 
• International Collaborative Translational Bioinformatics Research Project and Services.
• International OmicsLogic Research Symposium and Bioinformatics Hackathon.
• Student Placement Guidance and Start-Up Development.  

The training program curriculum has been specifically designed to cater to the latest research needs and demands of faculties, staff, and students in Bangladesh. Hence, the two organizations have come together to offer this unique through an integrative training syllabus with a special focus on genomics data analysis. 

The student training sessions are taught jointly by Academic Research Experts from Jashore University, Bangladesh, and Industry Research Experts from Pine Biotech, USA. The program is designed to complement the training session conducted by the two organizations. While Pine Biotech training sessions focus on introducing the participants to the various -omics field and programming languages for bioinformatics, Jashore University training sessions focus on specific bioinformatics disciplines. 

The figure below shows a summarized version of the topics covered:   

The program first introduces the students to big data and its application in the field of bioinformatics. Followed by this, students will gain an overview of various -omics fields in bioinformatics such as genomics, transcriptomics, metagenomics, and computational structural biology. Further, to provide an in-depth understanding of various topics within these fields, students will be taught topics on phylogenetics, phylodynamics, protein modeling, and gene expression analysis. 

For students interested to learn about the computational aspect of bioinformatics, the program will also offer training sessions on programming languages like R and Python as well as Data Science and Machine Learning. Finally, students will work on developing a bioinformatics research project which can be completed through the OmicsLogic Research Fellowship Program.   

Omics Logic Jashore University Orientation Session

On 12th January, 2023 an orientation session was conducted for the students to introduce them to the training objectives, expected learning outcomes, and associated resources they get access to as a part of the training program. 

The session was graced by the talk by Dr. Hassan Al-Emran, Chairman of Biomedical Engineering, Jashore University of Science and Technology where he gave a brief overview of the history, facilities, faculties, ongoing research, achievements, and future plans at the Genome Centre, JUST. During the session, Dr. Emran highlighted their future plans for research collaboration with Pine Biotech: 

A total of 100+ students from a diverse range of backgrounds including genetic engineering, biotechnology, and microbiology attended the orientation session making it a successful event. 

A detailed demonstration of how to sign up and create a completed profile on the Omics Logic Learn Portal was shown. The OmicsLogic Learn Portal offers a diverse range of comprehensive and up-to-date online courses on topics ranging from genomics, transcriptomics, metagenomics, and epigenomics to single-cell transcriptomics. The portal also provides example projects on oncology, virology, neuroscience, agriculture, and infectious diseases that are sourced from high-impact research publications.

Students shared their Learn UIDs, updated their profiles, and discussed their research interests during the orientation session. Finally, students were given a brief overview of the topics that would be covered during the upcoming training sessions, which included completing introductory coursework in genomics, transcriptomics, metagenomics, and translational sciences, as well as quizzes, assignments, videos, and written content. As a result, students will gain conceptual knowledge and practical hands-on experience during the training program.

Presently, students are actively completing Course 1: Introduction to Bioinformatics and Course 2: Bytes and Molecules. The training program comprising 27 sessions commenced on 12th January, 2023 and will end on February 14, 2023. 

Here are some of the students who are actively working on their assigned coursework:

Prosanto Kumar Das – https://learn.omicslogic.com/user/fb5oWC5ngsW5GYWYSGzUXeIThX62 

Md. Hasan Ali Pramanik – https://learn.omicslogic.com/user/LDxwNd3yxJW3kRo6tT9E8mRNLlX2 

Md. Sajib Hossain Shuvo – https://learn.omicslogic.com/user/K2JZgb1ScWVrhsCtEfSrP8zE1if2 

If you are faculty or from the administration interested in the OmicsLogic University Partnership Program for your students, please email us at mohit@pine.bio or elia@pine.bio.  

You can watch the full recording of the orientation session, here:

You Might Be Interested To Read:

1. MoU: Jashore University of Science & Technology & Pine Biotech,  USA – https://edu.omicslogic.com/blog/mou-between-jashore-university-of-science-and-technology-bangladesh-pine-biotech-inc.-usa 
2. Memorandum of Understanding Signing Ceremony: Debre Tabor University, Ethiopia & Pine Biotech, USA - https://edu.omicslogic.com/blog/memorandum-of-understanding-signing-ceremony-debre-tabor-university-pine-biotech-usa 
3. Asian University For Women, Bangladesh: Student Learning Journey - https://edu.omicslogic.com/blog/asian-university-for-women-bangladesh-student-learning-journey  
4. Memorandum of Understanding Signing Ceremony: Government City College, Hyderabad & Pine Biotech, USA - https://edu.omicslogic.com/blog/memorandum-of-understanding-signing-ceremony-government-city-college-hyderabad-pine-biotech-usa  
5. Stella Maris College, Chennai: Student Learning Journey - https://edu.omicslogic.com/blog/stella-maris-college-chennai-student-learning-journey  
6. MoU signing between Amity University, Noida & Pine Biotech, Inc USA – https://edu.omicslogic.com/blog/virtual-mou-signing-ceremony-between-amity-university-noida-pine-biotech-inc-usa  
7. Virtual MoU Signing Ceremony: Pine Biotech & IIMT University, Meerut – https://edu.omicslogic.com/blog/virtual-mou-signing-ceremony-between-pine-biotech-usa-iimt-university-meerut  
8. Collaborative Summer Bioinformatics & Data Science University Partnership Training Program with REVA University- Pine Biotech 2022 – https://edu.omicslogic.com/blog/bioinformatics-data-science-training-program-for-reva-university 
9. MoU: Department of Pharmacoinformatics, NIPER & Pine Biotech, Inc. USA – https://edu.omicslogic.com/blog/mou-niper-pinebiotech