J. Craig Venter Institute

The J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), which has campuses in both Rockville, MD and La Jolla, CA, has become a major center in virology research. The thread that runs through all JCVI research is genomics, i.e. analysis of the genetic material of populations of organisms, organisms, cells, and viruses. The virology program at JCVI conducts research focused primarily on genomics, evolution, pathogenesis, and vaccine development. The JCVI virology community is composed of representatives from every group in the institute: infectious diseases, human genomics, bioinformatics, synthetic biology, and environmental genomics. JCVI virology may be best known for sequencing thousands of complete influenza virus genomes, and the viral genomics program also has expertise in sequencing, assembly, and annotation of many other virus families. Thus, the ability of JCVI to rapidly isolate, sequence, analyze and synthesize virus genomes through a fully integrated workflow infrastructure makes JCVI unique as a possible rapid response center and therefore a valuable partner in the GVN.