INFORMATICS SHARED RESOURCEThe Informatics Shared Resource (ISR) supports for the cancer center's basic, clinical, and translationalresearch. Formerly known as the Shared Computer Facility, this shared resource's name change reflectsthe shift in focus of the facility from providing central computing hardware platforms for investigators, toproviding services for management and processing of data and information. These services include creatingresearch software, data file management, hardware and software acquisition, and computer-relatedconsultation. The ISR has supported cancer center research by developing web-based databaseapplications for clinical trials, biospecimen research repositories, and various research projects. It providesmanagement of very large genomic experimental data sets, acquisition of hardware, development ofsoftware tools to facilitate inter- and intra-institutional collaborative research programs, and assistance withdesign proposals for research-related computing. The clinical trials applications provide information onavailable clinical trials, the registration of participants on these trials, and the fully automated reporting oftrial adverse events. The biospecimen repository applications provide investigators with informationcharacterizing specimens available for research. Applications and strategies for the storage and retrieval ofmicroarray experimental results were developed. Video conferencing systems were acquired and webbaseddocument sharing applications developed for geographically dispersed research collaborations.Informatics Shared Resource staff consult with investigators to recommend hardware and software, rangingfrom the desktop units to high performance computing clusters. Recognizing the importance forinteroperability of independently developed informatics systems as crucial to the furtherance of cancerresearch through the sharing of research data and resources, the ISR has been an active participant in theNCI's cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid (caBIG ) since the initiative's inception. This resource has beena funded developer and/or adopter in the Integrated Cancer Research and Tissue Bank and PathologyTools Workspaces. KCC is among the first cancer centers to deploy caBIG tools. The shared resourcedirector, Dr. London, is a member of the Data Sharing and Intellectual Capital Work Group. Staff membershave served as unfunded participants in the Clinical Trials Management Systems Work Space, to keepabreast of developments in this group for possible adoption at the center. The ISR also supports cancercenter programs which relate to research, such as the clinical trials applications, seminar conferencingservices and the database application for tracking seminars. These are made available to Jefferson CancerNetwork hospitals and cancer center community outreach programs, such as the Buddy Program.
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