Steven Ellis
$25,000,000
Rutgers University New Brunswick
New Jersey
Biological Sciences (BIO)
Support from this award will provide ongoing support for the Research Collaboratory for Structural Bioinformatics (RCSB) Protein Data Bank (PDB). The RCSB PDB works with community stakeholders to preserve and deliver rigorously validated, expertly biocurated three-dimensional (3D) biostructure information archived in the Protein Data Bank (hereafter PDB or the archive) to millions of PDB Data Consumers worldwide at no charge and with no limitations on usage. Exploration of these experimentally-determined structures of proteins and nucleic acids via RCSB PDB web portals is enabled by state-of-the-art data analysis, visualization, and download tools. RCSB PDB ensures that structural biology data are Findable-Accessible-Interoperable-Reusable (FAIR). Access to PDB data and RCSB PDB Services will continue to drive patent applications, drug discovery and development, publication of innovative research in scientific disciplines ranging from Agriculture to Zoology, and innovations leading to discovery and development of life-changing biopharmaceutical products and formation of new US companies. Open access to PDB data and RCSB.org tools will help researchers in the fight against pandemics such as COVID-19 and other emerging infectious diseases. RCSB PDB training, outreach, and education efforts leverage PDB data and RCSB PDB staff expertise to develop materials that help students and researchers learn how to connect 3D biostructures to knowledge. Online Training resources and in-person events will enable education of senior undergraduates, graduate students, postdocs, and researchers in academe, government laboratories, and industry, and help to build a robust STEM workforce.<br/><br/>The RCSB PDB research-focused web portal will provide open access to >200,000 experimentally-determined PDB structures, >1,000,000 Computed Structure Models, and a growing number of Integrative/Hybrid structures, making it the only one-stop shop that delivers public domain 3D structure information traversing length scales ranging from small-molecule ligands to small proteins and nucleic acids to enormous macromolecular machines. The intellectual merit of the RCSB Protein Data Bank (PDB) proposal is reflected in the organization’s long history of scientific and technical leadership in sustaining an open-access global data resource that is central to research and education in biology and medicine, by curating, integrating, and disseminating 3D biostructure information in the context of biological function, biochemical pathways cellular processes, disease states, and molecular evolution. RCSB PDB websites supporting research (RCSB.org) and training (PDB-101 website) foster understanding of fundamental biology, biomedicine, and energy in three-dimensions at the atomic level. Efficient, ongoing fulfillment of the RCSB PDB mission has depended critically on extensive collaborations and partnerships with PDB Depositors and Data Consumers, chemical and biological data resources, international leaders in biomolecular data curation, scientific and professional societies, and stakeholder groups with interests in the life sciences, chemistry, computational sciences, medical sciences, drug discovery, biotechnology, and education. Together with this dynamic and evolving network of collaborators, RCSB PDB is committed to delivering data and related cyberinfrastructure services, and providing significant value to diverse user communities in the US and around the globe.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.