News

The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) is encouraging investigators with diverse expertise in genetics, genomics, and data science to join the Impact of Genomic Variation on Function (IGVF) Consortium. Applications will be supported by funding opportunity announcements (FOAs), and investigators will be asked to develop a framework for systematically understanding the effects of genomic variation on genome function and how these effects shape phenotypes.

NCI Director, Dr. Ned Sharpless, will serve as keynote speaker at the Sixth Computational Approaches for Cancer Workshop (CAFCW20), which will be held virtually on November 13, 2020. The CAFCW20 workshop will bring together clinicians, cancer biologists, mathematicians, data scientists, computational scientists, engineers, developers, and thought leaders interested in advancing computational approaches to better understand cancer. Abstracts may be submitted for this workshop, but they must be submitted no later than Tuesday, September 8.

The latest repository in the NCI Cancer Research Data Commons, the Integrated Canine Data Commons (ICDC), has launched! The ICDC offers cloud-based public access to canine cancer data and with its connection to the NCI Cloud Resources, allows researchers to leverage over 1,000 analytics tools and pipelines for high-powered cloud computing and analysis.

NCI's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Development Center is now accepting proposals for contracts of interest to the data science field. One topic is aimed at developing cloud-based imaging and multi-omic tools and another is seeking de-identification solutions for NCI's Cancer Research Data Commons (CRDC). Applications are due by Monday, October 26, 2020, at 5:00 p.m. ET. A pre-recorded webinar from HHS is available, which explains the 2020 contract Funding Opportunity Announcements for SBIR programs and gives some tips for success.

Harmony can mean different things to different professions, but in the new NCI Cancer Research Data Commons (CRDC) video, musical harmony and data harmonization combine to show how the CRDC is helping to create a harmonious data ecosystem for better clinical outcomes.

NIH recently released a notice encouraging NIH-supported clinical programs and researchers to adopt and use U.S. Core Data for Interoperability (USCDI) standards. USCDI classifications will ensure clinical data adhere to a unified standard, allowing researchers to more easily compare different data sets and enabling more in-depth analysis to further scientific discovery.

Drs. Daoud Meerzaman of NCI’s Center for Biomedical Informatics and Information Technology (CBIIT) and Barbara K. Dunn of NCI’s Biometry Research Group recently served as Guest Editors for a special virtual issue of the journal, Frontiers in Oncology. This collection of articles shows how ‘omics data are helping scientists to better understand the prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer. The issue explores the full range of ‘omics findings, from identifying biomarkers for diagnosing and treating cancer, to uncovering the mechanisms for disease.

NCI Director Dr. Ned Sharpless shared an update on the Childhood Cancer Data Initiative (CCDI) and how it is leveraging data science and data sharing to rapidly improve treatments for childhood, adolescent, and young adult cancers.

Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC) researchers shared the results of their first crowd-sourced NCI-CPTAC DREAM Proteogenomic Challenge. In this community-based, collaborative contest, participants developed computational algorithms to predict protein abundance and phosphoprotein levels.

The NIH Common Fund’s Harnessing Data Science for Health Discovery and Innovation in Africa (DS-I Africa) Program has published four Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs). In addition, the corresponding DS-I Africa Virtual Symposium Platform will be open July–November 2020 to provide networking tools and online events to participants.