Project Summary/Abstract The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Genomics Core Facility is an important resource for faculty and students in Arkansas who are engaged in research that impacts human health. Replacing the Illumina NextSeq 500 Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) system, which is now eight years old and heavily utilized for small and medium sized projects, with the new NextSeq 2000 will improve services provided by the UAMS Genomics Core Facility to all users. This purchase will allow for more advanced NGS capabilities at significantly reduced prices due to the more advanced technology, reduced cost of NGS reagents and, economies of scale associated with the NextSeq 2000. The confluence of advances in molecular biology, biotechnology instrumentation, and computational science are revolutionizing our understanding of biological basic science and human disease. Breakthroughs for new types of drugs and molecular diagnostics for cancer and many other recalcitrant diseases are occurring at an unprecedented rate. This is evidenced by FDA new drug and diagnostic approvals, including entire new therapeutic modalities for treating cancer (ie, Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors). Biotechnology and genomics are reshaping the economy in the United States and the world. The mission of the UAMS Genomics Core Facility is to provide investigators with convenient access at affordable prices to the latest technologies for advanced molecular profiling of biological samples. Importantly, this includes NGS-based studies, experiments, and assays. Services are provided to investigators at UAMS, and other universities in Arkansas including faculty and students from primarily undergraduate institutions in the Arkansas INBRE network. Services provided may be “all inclusive” and consist of advice and meeting(s) concerning an investigators’ question (hypothesis) along with assistance and guidance for an experimental design. Initial meetings are essential in order to manage new users’ expectations and foster their success. Additional NGS service components include: i) sample preparation with QA/QC validation, ii) running the sample on the NGS instrument and, iii) bioinformatics pipeline processing (data analysis). The UAMS Genomics Core Facility is fully supported and supplemented by the UAMS Rockefeller Cancer Institute and the College of Medicine. State-of-the-art genomic scientific instrumentation is essential to facilitate novel research for faculty and students in Arkansas. Additionally, the goal of obtaining NCI Cancer Center Designation by UAMS will also be strengthened.