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Q&A: Creating a cloud-based platform for infectious disease data
The University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health received a 5-year, $6.7 million grant from the NIH and announced that experts will create a global cloud-based platform that will allow scientists to easily share and access infectious disease data.
The platform will be developed by the new Network Coordination Center, part of the Models of Infectious Disease Agent Study (MIDAS), a collaborative research network launched by the NIH in 2004 to help the country prepare for infectious disease threats, according to a news release.
Currently, large datasets can be difficult for scientists to navigate, Wilbert van Panhuis, MD, PhD, assistant professor of epidemiology and biomedical informatics at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health and director of the new center, explained in the release.
In its first year, the new center will focus on standardizing and uploading hundreds of existing infectious disease datasets into the platform while requesting feedback from scientists, the school said.
Infectious Disease News spoke with van Panhuis about the new center and the goal of putting ID data on a cloud. – by Joe Gramigna
Q: What prompted the creation of the center?
A: The MIDAS network has existed for over 15 years and is being reorganized — from three centers of excellence, a bunch of smaller grants and a technical support center, to one coordination center and many smaller grants. NIH initiated the call for proposals for this coordination center with the aim of centralizing the work and expertise in making datasets and models produced by the center adhere to its Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable data principles. Also, the center will support the community more broadly by organizing an annual conference, workshops, webinars and so on.
Q: Who is this cloud for, and what will it look like?
A: It’s for MIDAS network researchers and students but also for the broader scientific community. The internal part of the network includes data systems and high-performance computing. The external part will make datasets and software produced by MIDAS available to the broader scientific community and community at large.
Q: What information will you be looking to share?
A: MIDAS researchers create computational models of infectious diseases, including molecular biology and population-level outbreak modeling. The datasets used to create the models as well as software created as part of modeling research will become available through our cloud-based MIDAS Digital Commons.
Q: Will it cost money to use?
A: No, the system is completely funded by NIH and possibly others in the future.
Q: What is the clinical relevance of an initiative like this one?
A: The MIDAS network conducts research to help the biomedical and public health community better understand infectious disease biology and how we can better prepare and respond to infectious disease threats. Research from the network has helped governments and health agencies in the past to counter pandemic influenza, Ebola, Zika and other threats. Making datasets and software from MIDAS more widely available, both internally and externally, will accelerate the speed of discovery of new scientific insight as well as new technology to improve our preparedness and response to infectious disease threats.