Research Institute At Nationwide Children's Hospital
Grant: $687,693 - National Institutes of Health - Aug. 1, 2009
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Award Description: The Cooperative Human Tissue Network (CHTN) was initiated by the Cancer Diagnosis Program of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in 1987 to provide increased access to human cancer specimens for basic and applied research to accelerate the advancement of discoveries in cancer diagnosis and treatment. The CHTN divisions work both independently with individual investigators and together as a seamless unit to fulfill requests that are difficult to serve by any single division. Such networking is accomplished using an informatics system developed by the CHTN, and by providing specimens via harmonized standard operating procedures (SOPs). Through the ARRA funds award, ?pCHTN: Pediatric Cooperative Human Tissue Network,? the pCHTN Informatics Group, selected by the CHTN divisions to further develop the TissueQuest/CHTN-IS system, will enhance the the CHTN tissue request network and distribution system (TissueQuest/CHTN-IS), harmonize the vocabulary with the NIH cancer BioInformatics Grid (caBIG) and provide an overall scalable and flexible architecture to comply with the advancement of biospecimen management and distribution best practices. The tissue request network system is the core information management system for the CHTN program and serves as the conduit between investigator biospecimen requests, all participating CHTN divisions, and the distribution process. The system is vital to the success of the program. The distribution of biospecimens to the scientific community is critical for innovation, treatments, and cures. The distribution of information/data is also critical within the CHTN to fulfill the investigator request in a quality and timely manner. The request for supplemental funds to advance the CHTN tissue request and distribution system will streamline the investigator biospecimen request through the networking process of the request to the distribution and delivery of the biospecimens.
Project Description: The first progress report includes activities associated with hiring the indicated personnel to support the specific aims of the supplemental funds and overall project set-up and design. The two additional positions (senior software developer and quality assurance/technical writer) are currently posted and multiple candidates are being interviewed for those positions. Those positions are likely to be filled over the next couple weeks. The project has been established in the configuration management system by the Research Informatics Core. An overall project plan has been created and a project backlog, for the system, has also been developed. Overall business analysis was completed to develop the system backlog. The backlog identifies the needed functionality, architecture, and overall specifications to be covered over the length of the supplement. The overall approach has been identified and the Research Informatics Core will use the Agile Methodology. The architecture also has been defined and documented to complete all identified specific aims of the supplement. The Research Informatics Core will be developing a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) to accomplish the defined aims. The technology has also been defined to reach the goals associated with the grant. The technology will use a combination of Microsoft .NET framework 3.5 and SQL Server 2008 for the supporting relational database. The service layer of the overall approach will utilize Java technologies. The initial project kick-off has also been accomplished with the introduction to the users the overall aims, approach, plan, and communication channels. The kick-off meeting also included a question and answer period to address any concerns associated with the supplement. The kick-off meeting included a number of individuals from the Cooperative Human Tissue Network and the current identified leads from the Research Informatics Core.
Jobs Summary: Recovery funds enabled us to retain two highly experienced technical personnel, the Software Architect and our Project Manager. These positions were retained for 10% effort each to initiate the aims of this project. Two positions are currently posted on the The Research Institute?s job site. These are the Senior Software Developer and the Quality Assurance/Technical Writer staff. The senior software developer will be skilled in Service Oriented Architecture, specifically utilizing the Java platform. The Senior Software Developer will work with the Architect and Project Manager to assist in the overall architecture and development process while also providing technical guidance to other team members. The Senior Software Developer will possess the needed skills in Unified Model Language (UML) to complete the caBIG process. The Senior Software Developer will utilize Enterprise Architect to develop UML models and have experience with development and deployment of APIs (Application Programming Interface). The Senior Software Developer will also have experience implementing software applications through the Rational Unified Process (RUP) Methodology which is utilized within the caBIG community. The Quality Assurance/Technical Writer role will be primarily focused on quality control and documentation. The individual will provide system and performance testing throughout the lifecycle of the initiative. The individual will also produce technical documentation to support the migration, integration, quality control and enhancements. This role is vital within the caBIG integration process. At the time of the proposal submission, we listed Andy Fox as personnel on the grant at 50% effort. In lieu of Mr. Fox?s time and effort on the grant, we will be seeking qualified support (consultant) with the assistance of trusted vendors whom we currently collaborate with to identify a Software Developer for the project. The consultant will focus on developing the defined enhancements of the TissueQuest/CHTN-IS application. This will involve migration of legacy data to the updated platform and information model to comply with the functional requests of the CHTN, while also enhancing the data integrity throughout the specimen lifecycle. We have accomplished significant progress in the two months since receiving the Recovery Funds. As reported, most of the work went towards further defining important project parameters, and likewise meeting with the CHTN division representatives. While some of our personnel for the project are in the process of being hired, we anticipate giving an employment update by the next progress report in January 2010 that will showcase this project?s impact on the current economy. (Total jobs reported: 0)
Project Status: Less Than 50% Completed
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