The Informatics Core is part of the Consortium for the """"""""Collaborative Initiative on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders"""""""" (CIFASD). The theme of this collaborative initiative is a cross-cultural assessment of """"""""fetal alcohol spectrum disorder"""""""" (FASD). The CIFASD will coordinate basic, behavioral, and clinical investigators in a multidisciplinary research project to better inform approaches aimed at developing effective intervention and treatment approaches for FASD. It will involve the input and contributions from basic researchers, behavioral scientists, and clinical investigators with the willingness to utilize novel and cutting-edge techniques so as not to simply replicate previous or ongoing work, but rather to try and move it forward in a rigorous fashion. The Informatics Core will develop and maintain the CIFASD Data Repository, which will be used to collect, maintain and distribute data generated by the various participants in the consortium. The Informatics Core will be responsible for working with the other consortium participants to define a Data Dictionary to be used in standardizing data collection, enabling the transfer of data to and from the CIFASD Data Repository, consulting on how to establish local data management systems, providing both software tools and consulting to consortium participants, and producing status reports about the progress of the various projects within the consortium. The Informatics Core draws on a wealth of resources, experience, and expertise at Indiana University in information technology infrastructure and data management, The CIFASD Data Repository will be developed on Indiana University's state-of-the-art central supercomputing facilities, taking advantage of Indiana University's strong commitment to institutional computational resources. Resources that will be used to implement the CIFASD Data Repository include multiple supercomputers, an array of readily available database and statistical software, and a high- speed, secure, robust data archiving system capable of storing duplicate copies in multiple physical locations separated by more than fifty miles. The Informatics Core will use these extraordinary computational resources to provide a single, highly secure location for consortium participants to obtain the cross-cultural data that will enable the CIFASD to meet its goals of developing novel techniques for intervention and treatment of FASD.
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