Network and Desktop During the past year, the project supported reliable, secure, and efficient information technology solutions. This includes acquisition, maintenance, and support for licensed software used by our DIR research community e.g., EndNote/Reference Manager, Bookends,GraphPad Prism, PyMol, network services (email, data backups, VPN, helix, PDAs, wireless configurations); and crossplatform desktop, server and application hosting in the Rockledge Data Center. We host software licenses for computation, 3D imaging and sequencing e.g., Amira, ArrayStar and QSeq, Autodesk Maya, DNASTAR Lasergene Core Suite, MathWorks MATLAB, MolSoft and SeqMan NGen. This year, MATLAB Distributed Computing Server, software and hardware (128GB, 16 Worker), has been added. Hosting these licenses permits users to leverage their research with additional tools available on Helix and Biowulf. We also assist users in identifying, researching and purchasing custom hardware configurations to match research instrument requirements. Data Recovery Services Core datarecovery tools were implemented for all mediahard drive, SSD, and flash etc., including RAID 0 and 5 recovery tools. Since 2005, the Unit has recovered over a Terabyte of research data from failed drives and media, at a minimum of $2500 savings per instance to the DIR research budget. Clinical informatics During the past year, the Unit on Computer Support Services (UCSS) continued to support and develop applications related to clinical and translational medicine, including the Clinical Trials Database (CTDB) project. Such informatics tools allow researchers to design, collect, and report clinical observations related to natural history and interval based studies. The total number of protocols and research projects supported by the CTDB team increased to approximately 410 for 14 NIH institutes, with an expansion of research questions to over 180,000. Our software development group completed three releases that included features for the electronic regulatory binder, machine data upload, and bio-repository improvement. We supported the Clinical Trial Survey System (CTSS), an application for patient surveys, used for 136 protocols. The Clinical Datamart was expanded to include vitals, medications and ECG/EKG datamarts and upgraded to support new protocols. Biological visualization web services The UCSS team provides DIR laboratories with scientific communications and media services, including publication support, website support, audio visuals production , medical arts, and print media.. We participated in the Science in 3D meeting hosted by NIAID and helped launch the NIH 3D Printing Exchange and their participation in the White House Maker Fair. Weve continued contributing to the virtual collection of biomedical 3D printing files by producing 34 videos and video tutorials, which serve as a public resource for biomedical scientists and educators. UCSS presented on 3D printing and graphics to the Graduate Partnership Program, the 3 Blind Mice (the NIH visually impaired usergroup), and visiting students. Weve designed and produced 3D representations of Cajal Illustrations for an exhibit in the Porter Neuroscience building and provided input and support to the NIH Librarys Technology Sandbox in their effort to enable direct 3D printing capabilities to all NIH staff. The web activities of the DIR web services program include: laboratory websites, annual report, and internet applications. A recent feature was added to collect and submit data to the Intramural Research Program website, building on the annual report on-line data collection system. This application was also enhanced to include the Fellows Annual Progress Report; a unified mean for tracking and mentoring intramural trainees along with easing the re-appointment process. The UCSS continued to maintain approximately 50 public DIR websites and began developing graphics for a redesign effort. We created medical illustrations for several publications by NICHD scientists. In addition, we provided photography and graphic, web, and media production for: the DIR Annual Fellows and PI (principal investigator) Retreats, the NIH Research Festival, Science in 3D and the NICHD Exchange series. The team also expanded the Science NICHD wiki (http://science.nichd.nih.gov) to over 168 projects and continued support for the NICHD Connection- a monthly newsletter for Intramural research fellows. The Science wiki allows PIs to create blogs and share documents/data in a secure manner. It played an integral part in intramural reorganization and was a platform for conducting scientific review by the Board of Scientific Counselors. As part of this project, the group collaborated with the NIH Library, the NLM, the NINDS, and the NIH Office of the Director. Bioinformatics During the past year, the bioinformatics team assisted the new Molecular Genetics Laboratory with data collection and analysis for highthroughput sequencing. The scientific informatics group also develops research tools to assist investigators with genomic data management and analysis. TileMapper was developed as a comprehensive webbased tool for mapping various genomic annotation features to the tiling microarray data derived from transcriptome, ChIPchip, or MeDIP studies. The data are visualized in a tabulated format, which permits flexible processing, and further analyzed by downstream pipelines to relate the data and perform interactions analysis. TileMapper accepts transcribedfragments (transfrag) information in Browser Extensible Display (BED) format generated from Affymetrix Integrated Genome Browser (IGB) or downloaded from the UCSC server. The SageWorks application was maintained and transitioned to a new server to leverage the robust public databases available in combination with the SAGE data to accelerate gene and pathway discovery. This workspace accommodates any SAGE data and provides storage of large datasets. With built-in navigation/search toolsets and automated updates, SAGEWorks enables the scientific community to minimize the redundancy of manual manipulation. A high performance computing (HPC) cluster was set up to assist with genomics computational requirements. The Genomics workbench Galaxy was installed and configured on the HPC to make use of the parallel processing capabilities. The UCSS also continues to provide and manage dozens of Terabytes of storage to support genomic research. Custom Software Development for scientific and administrative support This aspect of the project included software applications for DIR services. For example, we continued to enhance the Manuscript Tracking System (MTrac), a web based application that automates the clearance and approval process for manuscripts in the DIR. The system now includes a web service feature to connect to NLM PubMed and File Transfer Process (FTP) connections to PubMed Central to allow PIs to comply with NIH's Public Access policies. The team completed three production releases, including user support for all DIR programs. UCSS also continued the requirements process for an automated travel log system to streamline travel requests. The UCSS deployed the Cost Tracker module for the DIR, enabling the capture, organization, and reporting of various disparate expenses on a per-protocol basis. The UCSS worked closely with the OCD to develop a model for protocol cost vs. effectiveness.
