This tutorial will be held at the Faculty of Information Studies at the University of Toronto (map and directions). All other tutorials will be held at the conference hotel. If you have not yet registered for the conference and would like to attend the Genomic IR tutorial, you may go directly to the University of Toronto on the morning of July 28. You will be able to register for the tutorial there. .

This tutorial introduces the principles and practice of genomic information retrieval. Databases of genomic information assist molecular biologists in understanding the biochemical functions, macromolecular structure, and evolutionary history of organisms. We present an introduction to molecular biology, discuss how and why molecular biologists use genomic databases, describe information discovery techniques, introduce medical informatics, and discuss future directions in genomic IR including the new TREC genomics track. The tutorial features a two hour hands-on lab session guided by the instructors.

Peter Smooker is a practising molecular biologist, researching in the antigen characterisation, vaccine delivery, and bioinformatics fields. He teaches bioinformatics, and a bridging molecular biology course designed for students with limited biological background. Peter is also a lecturer at RMIT University.