caBIG

Overview

The cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid (caBIG) is a voluntary network or grid connecting individuals and institutions to enable the sharing of data and tools, creating a World Wide Web of cancer research. The goal of this project is to speed the delivery of innovative approaches for the prevention and treatment of cancer. However, the infrastructure and tools created by caBIG also have broad utility outside the cancer community. caBIG is being developed under the leadership of NCICB. Nearly 500 people from approximately 50 NCI-designated Cancer Centers and other organizations are working collaboratively on over 70 projects in a three-year pilot project. For more information on caBIG, visit http://cabig.nci.nih.gov.

Collaboration with Prostate SPORE NBN Pilot

As the Prostate SPOREs worked towards the implementation of the NBN Pilot, the Task Force identified that it will be critical to closely collaborate with the caBIG initiative. caBIG is developing several informatics tools that are directly relevant to the Prostate SPORE NBN pilot; therefore, a collaboration between the two groups was officially established in February 2005. Of particular importance is the development of an interoperable informatics system utilized by all 11 Prostate SPOREs to exchange specimens and associated data. A joint NBN Pilot and caBIG timeline illustrates the activities surrounding this collaboration.

caBIG Year 2 Request for Proposals

On February 25, 2005, the caBIG Year 2 Request for Proposals (RFP) was released (http://cabig.nci.nih.gov/Year_2/RFP/view). Prostate SPOREs responded to this RFP to become funded caBIG “adopters,” to undertake formal testing, validation, and application of the caTISSUE specimen tracking and annotations module. By either adopting caTISSUE in full or building an interface from existing systems to caTISSUE, the prostate SPORE sites will create a system for querying available specimens across the network in a secure, federated manner. This capability is crucial for implementing the Inter-Prostate SPORE Biomarker Study (IPBS) and the NBN pilot.