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However, there is a persistent computational skills gap in the biomedical research workforce. Inherent limitations of classroom teaching and institutional core support highlight the need for accessible ways for researchers to explore developments in computational biology. An analysis of the Scripps Research Genomics Core revealed increases in the total number and diversity of experiments: the share of experiments other than bulk RNA- or DNA-sequencing increased from 34% to 60% within 10 years, requiring more tailored computational analyses. These challenges were tackled by forming a volunteer-led affinity group of approximately 300 academic biomedical researchers interested in computational biology, referred to as the Computational Biology and Bioinformatics (CBB) affinity group. This adaptive group has provided continuing education and networking opportunities through seminars, workshops, and coding sessions while evolving along with the needs of its members. A survey of CBB\u2019s impact confirmed the group\u2019s events increased the members\u2019 exposure to computational biology educational and research events (79% respondents) and networking opportunities (61% respondents). Thus, volunteer-led affinity groups may be a viable complement to traditional institutional resources for enhancing the application of computing in biomedical research.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pcbi.1013453","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,10]],"date-time":"2025-09-10T17:45:16Z","timestamp":1757526316000},"page":"e1013453","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pcbi.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Catalyzing computational biology research at an academic institute through an interest network"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8135-856X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Jaroslav","family":"Zak","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0671-8668","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Ian","family":"Newman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Daniel J.","family":"Montiel Garcia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Daniele","family":"Parisi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Janet","family":"Joy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Steven R.","family":"Head","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jean-Christophe","family":"Ducom","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Padmaja","family":"Natarajan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Haissi","family":"Cui","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6334-452X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Sabah","family":"Ul-Hasan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"pcbi.1013453.ref001","article-title":"Shaping biomedicine as an information science.","volume-title":"Proceedings of the 1998 conference on the history and heritage of science information systems (ASIS Monograph Series)","author":"T Lenoir","year":"1999"},{"issue":"1","key":"pcbi.1013453.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"224","DOI":"10.1057\/s41599-021-00903-w","article-title":"Growth rates of modern science: a latent piecewise growth curve approach to model publication numbers from established and new literature databases","volume":"8","author":"L Bornmann","year":"2021","journal-title":"Humanit Soc Sci Commun"},{"issue":"7","key":"pcbi.1013453.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pbio.1002195","article-title":"Big Data: astronomical or genomical?","volume":"13","author":"ZD Stephens","year":"2015","journal-title":"PLOS Biol"},{"key":"pcbi.1013453.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.7717\/peerj.9954","article-title":"The reuse of public datasets in the life sciences: potential risks and rewards","volume":"8","author":"K Sielemann","year":"2020","journal-title":"PeerJ"},{"issue":"1","key":"pcbi.1013453.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"301","DOI":"10.1186\/s13059-021-02519-4","article-title":"Over 1000 tools reveal trends in the single-cell RNA-seq analysis landscape","volume":"22","author":"L Zappia","year":"2021","journal-title":"Genome Biol"},{"issue":"1","key":"pcbi.1013453.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1728","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-022-29268-7","article-title":"Current progress and open challenges for applying deep learning across the biosciences","volume":"13","author":"N Sapoval","year":"2022","journal-title":"Nat Commun"},{"key":"pcbi.1013453.ref007","unstructured":"Working Group on Biomedical Computing ACttD. 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