GENETICS AND GENOMICS CORE FACILITY (WestCore) OF SD BRIN (RESEARCH) Summary/Abstract SD BRIN has made significant strides in building critical infrastructure to meet the needs of biomedical researchers in South Dakota. From 2004 to 2018 SD BRIN’s Genetics & Genomics Cores were separate, complementary cores. The Genomics Core at USD focused on microarray and qPCR services, and the Genetics core (WestCore) at BHSU focused on sequencing and genotyping services. In response to investigator requests for NextGeneration sequencing services, WestCore secured a SD Board of Regents Performance Improvement grant to purchase a NextGen sequencing platform, an Illumina MiSeq. The addition of this technology has opened the doors for SD BRIN researchers to address genetic questions that were nearly impossible to pursue prior to the advent of massively parallel sequencing platforms. SD BRIN’s primary goal relating to the Genetics and Genomics Core is to provide assistance for the maintenance of genetic and genomics related services to support SD BRIN investigators at participating institutions, as well as other researchers, throughout the state. Many of the research projects conducted by SD BRIN faculty and students network-wide rely on the information gained from DNA sequencing, genotyping and quantitative PCR (qPCR). To meet the research and student training needs for access to nucleic acid sequencing, genotyping and qPCR technology.