Cherokee Farm is uniquely positioned for biomedical research – literally – from a top mouse genome research facility to world-leading computer modeling ability at ORNL. We have top UT researchers on the Knoxville campus and in the UT Health Science Center Graduate School of Medicine, and we have access to statewide partnerships through the UT Health Science Center and its network of researchers (St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Vanderbilt Medical Center, and others). Cherokee Farm is ideally situated for acces to the entire gamut of biomedical research.
In addition to disease-based research, UT and East Tennessee are global leaders in the science and business of medical imaging, with research centers like the Scintillation Materials Research Center and the Molecular Imaging and Translational Research Program, each of which has strong private sector connections.
Already, the combined resources of UT and ORNL are leading to groundbreaking findings. Computational biologist and UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair Scientist Jeremy Smith has already utilized the vast computational resources available to better understand protein folding, specifically rational, structure-based drug design. Tools like the Spallation Neutron Source add to the reasons that Cherokee farm will be a singular site for biomedical research.
Modeling Genetics
For over 50 years, the Mouse Genetics Research Facility (MGRF) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has attracted a highly qualified staff of mouse geneticists and molecular biologists who use its standard and mutant strains of laboratory mice for basic research in analyzing gene function and identifying mouse models of human genetic disease.
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