Program Accomplishments
Currently, BIP supports close to 300 investigators and 347 studies in a diverse set of research areas, including neurology, oncology, transplant, pediatric disciplines, cardiovascular diseases, health disparities, and infectious diseases. The program also provides expertise and assistance to build informatics support for managing and integrating image data and results from microscopy image analyses and provides expertise and informatics support for execution of large-scale analyses.
Software Systems to Support Investigators
The BIP has deployed a suite of software systems to support investigators and assist in achieving an Atlanta-wide consortium of academic research institutions. These systems include applications developed by BIP members, such as Clinical Research –Assist (CR-Assist) for study and participant management within the CIN and CTRPP and with TTR, the electronic Biomedical Interactive Resource Tool (eBIRT) for resource discovery, commercial software, and applications from other CTSA projects (e.g., i2b2, and REDCap). The systems deployed by BIP, along with contents and benefits of these systems, are summarized below:
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Applications and Databases Deployed in ACTSI by BIP |
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Application |
Deployed |
Content and Usage |
Function and Benefits |
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Dec 2005 |
265 studies since deployment, 119 active studies, 4185 participants, and 243 users |
Enables researchers to manage participants, schedule and track study events (visits, laboratory tests), and print labels for bio-specimen collection |
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Jul 2010 |
420 services from 56 cores |
Enables discovery of relevant laboratories, expertise, and services |
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PAIS Database |
Aug 2010 |
In silico brain tumor study database of image analysis results from 307 slides |
Enables researches to store, index, and explore image markups and annotations on micro-anatomic structures for correlative studies |
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Apr 2010 |
508 forms created, used by 29 studies |
Provides support for researchers to easily capture and manage clinical research data |
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Jul 2010 |
Used by 362 studies and 64 users; number of aliquots received in LIMS: 620297 |
Facilitates structured and more efficient management of laboratory workflows and bio-specimens via a common infrastructure |
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AIW Clinical Registry |
Mar 2011 |
5 years of data on 4061 Emory patients |
Provides semantically annotated, easy-to-query databases of clinical data for clinical research |
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AIW-Readmissions |
May 2011 |
5 years of clinical and administrative data on 149,814 Emory patients |
Provides a semantically annotated dataset for analyzing hospital readmissions |
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Oct 2010 |
Clinical information from 21,000 patients |
Easy to use interfaces for researchers to access EHR data for cohort identification |
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Examples of BIP-supported Science
Since its establishment, the BIP has supported ACTSI investigators working in diverse research areas, such as neurology, oncology, transplant, pediatric disciplines, cardiovascular diseases, and infectious diseases. The following are examples of BIP engagements with investigators that have led to successful new proposals and innovative science:
- Transplant (Comparative Effectiveness Research) – Through a series of meetings structured in a Studio approach, the Emory Transplant Center has submitted and received funding from NIH to identify and study, through econometric analysis, objective factors that affect the uptake of comparative effectiveness research for the discharge of patients who have undergone surgery for GI malignancy (1RC4AG039071-01).
- Biochemistry (Translational Research) – After the development of a proof of concept by BIP, the Emory Biochemistry Department received funding from NIH (3R01GM085448-02S1) to establish an information system to help determine the specificity of a Glycan Binding Protein (GBP) using data from analysis of the CFG Glycan Microarray.
- Cancer (Translational Research) – The In Silico Brain Tumor Research Center (ISBTRC) is funded by NCI (HHSN261200800001E) as one of the six In Silico Research Centers of Excellence. The center is dedicated to exploring novel ideas in hypothesis-driven, integrative translational research on brain tumors by analyzing complementary data types (genomics, imaging, clinical outcome), a collaborative effort of four institutions: Emory University, Henry Ford Hospital, Stanford University, and Thomas Jefferson University. BIP leads the development of informatics support for multi-scale data exploration and integration.
- Cardiovascular (Health Disparities Research) – The Minority Health Genomics and Translational Research bio-repository Database (MH-GRID) is a multi-institutional project funded by an NIH/ARRA grant (1RC4MD005964-01) and led by Dr. Gary Gibbons at MSM. It will develop a unique resource that is capable of capturing multi-dimensional factors (genomic, clinical phenotypes, social-environmental factors) obtained from over 2,000 African-American patients from multiple institutions (initially Grady Heatlh System, MSM, Kaiser Permanente, and Jackson-Hinds Clinic). This resource will provide a platform for accelerating comparative effectiveness and health disparities research involving minority communities. BIP developed the informatics component of the proposal and will lead its implementation.