CTSA Networking and Collaboration

Staff from the Translational Informatics Unit (TiU) and the Center for Biomedical Informatics (CBMi) have developed numerous contacts with representatives from other Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) institutions during the past few years. These contacts have extended TiU's and CBMi's knowledge and enhanced their ability to implement the best informatics solutions for various laboratory settings. The CTSA network can easily and quickly identify groups who are in the process of addressing substantial challenges in developing and implementing almost any informatics-related solution. These cross-institutional experiences can greatly influence the decision-making process in a highly beneficial manner. TiU and CBMi currently participate in the following workgroups and forums.

Informatics Inventory Project Group

This workgroup strives to construct a comprehensive listing of all information systems currently deployed or in development within various translational research environments. This listing will be used to identify collaborative opportunities between institutions that are sharing specific technologies in order to more efficiently utilize those technologies. TiU analysts, as a result of their proactive consultative efforts with a variety of Stokes Institute and Hospital groups, are currently serving as the primary conduits to the CTSA on inventory issues for translational research. These individuals also have knowledge of other CTSA institutions' informatics inventories and have access to translational informatics representatives at these institutions.

Data Repositories

Analysts within TiU are actively participating in this informatics workgroup and have even led efforts to increase communication about data repositories by coordinating a best practices symposium. TiU analysts have experience that is highly sought after, as their breadth of knowledge includes both commercial (e.g., Oracle and IBM) and academically focused (e.g., caBIG, BIRN, and i2b2) solutions.

Collaboration Facilitation Interest Group

CBMi and TiU have been heavily involved with this workgroup and have presented an internally-developed research wiki in the workgroup's first webinar. As participants, TiU analysts keep pace with advances in the rapidly evolving area of electronic-mediated collaboration within the academic research environment. The establishment of a pervasive virtual collaboration space and culture is critical for data sharing, data empowerment and governance, and maximizing collaborative capacity at an institutional level. Many of these tools can be developed to fit the need of individual research groups or laboratories.

Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) Discussion Forum

TiU analysts have led efforts to establish a LIMS discussion forum within the CTSA informatics workgroup with the expectation that an official designation as an informatics workgroup is soon to follow. This forum is collaboratively maintained with representatives from Duke University and the University of Pittsburgh and focuses on experiences in LIMS development and implementation at any CTSA institution. Discussion items in this forum span such topics as best practices, third party vendor reviews, sharing LIMS workflows and information across institutions, and governing such systems.

Data Governance

Governance of information management, sharing and access are currently handled by compliance, privacy and/or information security departments within each of the representative CTSA institutions. For informaticists participating in the CTSA informatics working groups, discussions concerning governance frameworks are integral to practical implementation.

TiU participates in discussions of a number of governance issues as they are shared and debated within the forums that the CTSA working groups provide. As such, analysts gain knowledge of technology- and institution-specific governance needed to interact with internal administrative departments most effectively, as well as the significance of cultural barriers to technology adoption.