June 14, 2016
CBC-Funded Project Plays a Major Role in a Presidential Initiative
The CBC is proud of its early contribution in the establishment of the Genomic Data Commons (GDC) at the University of Chicago.
Vice President Joe Biden talks with (from left): Jeremiah Savage, MS, Ken Onel, MD, PhD, and Prof. Robert Grossman, PhD, as the vice president toured the NCI Genomic Data Commons (GDC) Monday, June 6, 2016.
GDC, an initiative of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), will serve as a centralized national database and information system, allowing researchers free access and sharing of cancer-related genomic and clinical data. The GDC stores already 4.1 petabytes (1 petabyte equals 1 million gigabytes!) of cancer genomic data obtained from NCI-supported large-scale projects including The Cancer Genome Atlas. This comprehensive, easily accessible and interactive information platform could ultimately be used in individual cancer patient treatments.
“‘I can’t tell you how excited I am about this,’ said Biden, as he toured the facility and spoke with the University of Chicago cancer researchers, including Robert Grossman, PhD, principal investigator for the GDC and director of the Center for Data Intensive Science (CDIS) at the University of Chicago. ‘We desperately need the American people to fund this in a big way,’ Biden said,” as reported by Matt Wood in the University of Chicago ScienceLife.
Vice President Joe Biden talks with Barbara Stranger*, PhD and Piers Nash, PhD (left) during the GDC tour.
Development of the GDC is based on CDIS open-source projects such as the Bionimbus Protected Data Cloud, developed by Grossman at the University of Chicago. Bionimbus, part of the Computational Core at the Chicago Center for Systems Biology at the University of Chicago was the first cloud-based, accessible data storage system approved by the NIH to hold cancer genomic data. CBC provided partial funding towards the development of Bionimbus through a $3 million 2008 Lever Grant to the Chicago Center for Systems Biology. The Principal Investigators of the award were Kevin White, PhD (University of Chicago), Robert Grossman, PhD (currently at the University of Chicago but then at the University of Illinois at Chicago), Richard Morimoto, PhD (Northwestern University) and Luis Amaral, PhD (Northwestern University).
“We couldn’t have done it without support from the CBC, so thank you!” Grossman remarked when Bionimbus was just getting off the ground in 2010. Six years later, this CBC-supported project has evolved into a global resource and a widely accessible knowledge depository center that will facilitate collaborative research efforts in understanding cancer pathogenesis and eradicating this devastating disease.
Quoting Jack Lambert from ASCO Daily News: “As part of the ambitious ‘Moonshot’ effort to eliminate cancer as we know it, Vice President Joe Biden encouraged collaboration and team science within the field of oncology during a speech at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting. ‘The whole world is looking to you,’ Vice President Biden told the crowd of oncologists and medical professionals. ‘Your success can literally change the world. We need you now more than we ever have.’”
*On November 11, 2016, Stranger will present her work at the upcoming CBC Symposium: “Genetics of Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders”
PHOTO CREDITS: Robert Kozloff; source: Genomic Data Commons at UChicago heralds new era of data sharing for cancer research
Posted June 14, 2016 by CBC Communications Director Jola Glotzer
SEE ALSO:
▸ National Cancer Institute Genomic Data Commons
▸ Center for Data Intensive Science
SOURCES:
▸ Genomic Data Commons at UChicago heralds new era of data sharing for cancer research
Posted: June 6, 2016 by Matt Wood in Spotlight / the University of Chicago ScienceLife
▸ Newly launched Genomic Data Commons to facilitate data and clinical information sharing
Posted: June 6, 2016; Contact: NCI Press Office 301-496-6641
▸ Vice President Joe Biden Discusses Cancer Moonshot Initiative During ASCO 2016
Posted: June 6, 2016 by Jack Lambert in ASCO Daily News
▸ University of Chicago to establish Genomic Data Commons
Posted: December 2, 2014 by Kevin Jiang in UChicagoNews