We propose to create IDASH, a national center for biomedical computing that will develop new algorithms, open-source tools, computational infrastructure and services that will enable biomedical and behavioral researchers nationwide to integrate Data for Analysis, Anonymization, and Sharing, IDASH will address fundamental challenges to research progress by providing a secure, privacy-preserving environment in which researchers can analyze genomic, transcriptomic and highly annotated phenotypical data. Leveraging the high performance capabilities of the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC), and scalable cyberinfrastructure developed by the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology, iDASH will provide synergistic application of tools and systems to advance research and improve human health. iDASH will focus on privacy protection through anonymization, data simulation, and an informed consent management system. It will focus on data analysis through the development of new tools for data annotation and integration across temporal and spatial dimensions, and develop algorithms for rare event detection and risk adjustment. To enable efficient analysis of short-reads from massively parallel sequencing, compression algorithms and a new genomic query system will be developed. Three Driving Biological Projects that span the molecular-individual-population spectrum will motivate, inform and support tool development: (1) Molecular Phenotyping of Kawasaki Disease;(2) Post-Marketing Pharmacosurveillance of Anticoagulation Agents;(3) Individualized Intervention to Enhance Physical Activity. iDASH trainees will complete core biomedical informatics courses and will have options for short- and long-term graduate training at San Diego State University and UCSD. We will collaborate with other NCBCs and disseminate tools via annual workshops for users and developers, presentations at major conferences, and scientific publications. We will develop a comprehensive web portal to download tools, upload data, and obtain documentation and user-friendly training materials. An experienced leadership team will use effective project management practices to support collaboration as well as monitor and ensure progress toward iDASH goals.
Contemporary biomedical and behavioral research requires significant computational resources. There is an increasing divide between researchers who have these resources and those who do not. iDASH will decrease this gap and accelerate discoveries by providing innovative services, algorithms, open-source software, infrastructure, and training to facilitate data analysis and sharing by biomedical researchers.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 176 publications
