FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

INCOGEN Receives funding from National Science Foundation to Enhance Bioinformatics Education
VIBE Software Selected as Platform for New Bioinformatics Teaching Tool

Williamsburg, VA. Feb. 6, 2004

INCOGEN has announced a new project to extend its existing Visual Integrated Bioinformatics Environment (VIBE) software for classroom use. The six-month pilot project is funded in part by the National Science Foundation under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The new software will address the lack of educational tools in bioinformatics and the resulting shortage of trained personnel with necessary skills to extract knowledge and derive benefits from data generated in life science research experiments.

The new endeavor draws on the existing collaboration between INCOGEN and The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA. “We are very excited to work with one of the best teaching institutions in the country on this high-impact project,” said Dr. Maciek Sasinowski, CEO of INCOGEN. “This collaboration will extend our successful research partnership with the College and give us access to expertise from the School of Education, who will bring tremendous value to the project.”

Dr. Virginia McLaughlin, Dean of the School of Education at William and Mary, said, “We are delighted to contribute to this important project by providing guidelines for the evaluation of student learning. Our faculty is committed to the success of this project and to working with INCOGEN to address specific student needs and educational interests in bioinformatics and computational biology.”

INCOGEN will also collaborate with science faculty at William and Mary who will integrate the software into their curriculum. Dr. Sasinowski, also an Adjunct Professor at the University, will have an opportunity to collect first-hand information on the usefulness of the software as a teaching tool while teaching his bioinformatics course this semester.

VIBE has already been recognized for its impact on research by being inducted into the ComputerWorld Honors Collection last year. Not a complete stranger to the classroom, the software in its current version has already been tested as a teaching tool at the College of William and Mary, James Madison University, and New Horizons Governor’s School in Hampton, VA. The additional funding will allow INCOGEN to tailor the program for classroom and educational use and launch the product on a wider scale.

About INCOGEN:
INCOGEN, Inc. provides state-of-the-art software and industry-leading professional services to scientists involved in pharmaceutical, agricultural and biotechnology research. The suite of INCOGEN tools includes GenePort®, a web-browser-based information mining and management portal; VIBE™, an extensible bioinformatics visual programming and workflow management platform; and HDFR™ and Magelan™, two image analysis software packages. INCOGEN Professional Services provide scientists with industry-leading technological expertise to assist researchers with every phase of design, development and implementation of their informatics infrastructures. The company is committed to supplying the research community with tools to optimize the analysis, mining, and management of life science data.