• Overview
• Contacts
• Consultants by Institution

Welcome to the Consultation Unit of the Harvard Catalyst Translational Genetics and Bioinformatics Program (TGBP). The Consultation Service is designed to assist clinical and translational investigators in the planning, design and interpretation of genetic, genomic and proteomic research. The Consultation Unit includes faculty from across the Harvard medical institutions with expertise in genetic, genomic, proteomic, and metabolomic research, and bioinformatics. The program offers expert consultations in genetics and bioinformatics-related research to all members of the institutions that comprise the Harvard Catalyst community.

Frequently Asked Questions:

1. What kind of consultation is available?
We will work with you to address your individual needs related to the design and planning of genetic, genomic and proteomic research. Common requests for consultation include:

• identifying the appropriate core facilities
• identifying potential collaborators
• design and feasibility of studies involving genetic epidemiology, genotyping, DNA sequencing, linkage and association analysis, pharmacogenetics, population genetics, epigenetics, cytogenetics, RNA analysis, proteomic analysis, metabolomic analysis, diagnostic and clinical genetics, high throughput analyses, and bioinformatics analyses.
• guidance on IRB and human subjects issues specific to genetic/genomic/ proteomic studies
• career development guidance for investigators in the areas of genetics, genomics, and bioinformatics
• consultations in bioinformatics, both in the initial stages of study design and for ongoing or existing, funded, high-level bioinformatics or computational biology efforts

2. Who is eligible to receive consultation?
Consultation is available for clinical and translational investigators in the Harvard University community (postdoctoral fellows and faculty members).

3. What kind of consultation is not available?

• We can provide general guidance for projects that involve statistical genetics but consultation regarding substantial statistical genetics services (power calculations, data analysis, etc) can be obtained through the Harvard Catalyst Biostatistical Consulting Program.
• The Consultation Service is focused on assisting with the planning and design of research proposals and does not provide ongoing support for the implementation and analysis of existing studies. Such "post-funding" research expertise will normally be covered by key personnel on the specific project. Thus, for example, consultation is available for the preparation of a grant or IRB submission, but is not designed to support the implementation or analysis of a funded project.

4. What costs are associated with consultation?
Consultation is provided free of charge to Harvard investigators.

5. How do I request a consultation?
To initiate a consultation, please complete and submit the webform listed below. After your request is submitted, it will be reviewed by the consultation service and you will be contacted to arrange the details of the consultation. In some cases, we may contact you to clarify the nature of your request.

Genetics & Bioinformatics Consultation Form
To request a Catalyst genetics or bioinformatics consultation, please complete and submit this webform.

Additional Bioinformatics Resources available through Harvard Catalyst

The C3 Bioinformatics Program, a combined effort of Harvard Catalyst, the HMS Center for Biomedical Informatics, and the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, also offers consultations on microarray analysis, pathway analysis, function prediction, sequence analysis, genomic data mining and sequence-structure-function relationships. Help is available in the form of one-on-one consulting and collaboration. This service, which operates separately from the TGBP, is available free to all Harvard University researchers and affiliated institutions including hospitals. Contact the C3 group directly (E-mail) to request their services.