Data Management Core: Systems Biology to Identify Biomarkers of Neonatal Vaccine Immunogenicity

Ozonoff, Al

Abstract

The overarching goal of the proposed Human Immunology Project Consortium (HIPC) is to characterize vaccine-induced biological variations (transcriptomic/proteomic; summarized as ?OMIC?) in the human newborn that correlate with downstream immunogenicity as predictors for Correlates of Protection (CoPs). The Data Management Core (DMC) will establish and maintain a cloud-based discovery environment, consisting of data storage and computational tools to perform integrative systems analyses and facilitate collaborations between the HIPC Projects and Cores. The DMC will also facilitate data sharing, submission to public repositories, and HIPC engagement with the external research community. The broad goals of the DMC are reliable data capture and retention; ongoing quality assurance; and provision of access/computational resources for integrative analyses. We articulate these goals through three Specific Aims:
Aim 1 : Create a secure data management infrastructure for data acquisition and retention from HIPC Clinical Core Sites, Service Cores, and Projects.
Aim 2 : Establish HIPC-wide quality assurance processes and accepted standards for each of the heterogeneous data sources.
Aim 3 : Provide biostatistical and bioinformatics tools and expertise to lead integrative analyses across platforms. Our data management architecture will rely on new capabilities at our institution to access Amazon Web Services (AWS) for reliable cloud-based research support. We have worked closely with our Research Computing department to implement a system for HIPC collaborators that will combine security and reliability with ease of access and the most advanced computational tools and resources available. We believe our approach will offer many advantages over a more traditional server-based architecture, not the least of which is a more fruitful computing environment for integrative analyses and scientific discovery. Scientific endeavors of this scope/scale require robust data management plans, infrastructure, and operations. Practical data integration requires an environment within which these data can be linked across platforms. The DMC?s function will build on close integration of project/core leads into the DMC (eg, Drs. Steen, Tebbutt, Brinkman, Foster and Hancock) thereby synergistically leveraging their distinct strengths and augmenting the the productivity and impact of our proposed program. Completion of our Specific Aims will enable fresh insights into the biological basis underlying vaccine protective responses in early life, informing rational design of effective vaccines for the very young who are at highest risk from infections.