The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) is establishing an infrastructure, the Children's Health Exposure Analysis Resource (CHEAR), to provide the extramural research community access to laboratory and statistical analyses to add or expand the inclusion of environmental exposures in their research. CHEAR is a multiunit infrastructure to provide access to comprehensive exposure assessment for NIH funded studies of Children's Health. The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is applying to be the CHEAR Data Repository, Analysis and Science Center. The Center for Data Science (Data Center) will provide intellectual and logistical support for the maintenance, analysis, interpretation, curation, and reuse of data generated by CHEAR in support of extramural research projects. The Data Center will provide a repository for all data and support for statistical analysis and interpretation. Specifically, for the investigators that utilize CHEARfor studies of children's environmental health using the data generated within and outside the network, the Data Center will provide: 1) data repository and management; 2) statistical consultation and analysis services; 3) collaborative research support; 4) statistical and analytica methods development; and 5) data science resources. The ultimate goal of the Data Center is to maximize potential use and impact of exposure data both within and outside of CHEAR. The creation of the CHEAR Center for Data Science is critical for expanding our knowledge about the role of the environment in the growth, development, and health of children. Researchers who access the resources of the CHEAR Data Center will be able to go far beyond their initial hypotheses and potentially accomplish research that was previously thought infeasible or too costly. Indeed, through the use of the CHEAR Data Center, investigators will be able to increase their productivity and advance the scientific community's ability to examine the environment on an exposome scale. Pooling of multiple datasets in a cohesive and integrated manner will be made possible through the language standards that will be developed by the Data Center. Further, the Leadership is composed of world leaders in Environmental Epidemiology, Computer Science, Environmental Biostatistics, and Ontology who are ready and enthusiastic about carrying out the mission of the CHEAR Data Center as well as the CHEAR Network overall. Mount Sinai is uniquely positioned to provide these services; a Data Center already exists and will be expanded in both resources and infrastructure to meet the requirements of the CHEAR Network. Additionally, there is excellent Institutional support in both contributed additional funds and services for the Data Center. Thus, in sum, the children's health research community needs the CHEAR Data Center and we at Mount Sinai have everything that is needed to provide a state-of-the-art Data Center for the research community.
A well-designed epidemiologic study of children's health will be able to address the hypotheses the study is funded to investigate, but by accessing the resources of the CHEAR Data Center, studies will be able to exceed what they are funded to do and potentially accomplish research that was previously thought infeasible or too costly. Through the use of the CHEAR Data Center, investigators will be able to increase their productivity and advance the scientific community's ability to examine the environment on an exposome scale. Pooling multiple datasets in the Data Center repository in a cohesive and integrated manner will be made possible through the language standards we develop.
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