Core--Informatics, Biostatistics and data management

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This Core will provide a variety of informatics and biostatistical analytic support to the Research Projects, other Cores, and the Pilot Projects of the Center for High-Throughput Minimally-Invasive Radiation Biodosimetry. This Core will also provide central, secure hosting for data exchange among all Consortium members. As well as more specific bioinformatics issues described below, this Core will provide general statistical support in terms of experimental design, and statistical data analysis. This Core will also have a central role in the review of proposed Pilot Projects. Central members of the Core are Jeffrey Trent and Michael Bittner at TGen, and Marianthi Markatou at Columbia University, all of whom have international reputations in their field. Direct analytic efforts will center on informatics and specialized statistical support of efforts to develop biodosimeters based on gene expression in lymphocytes (Project 2) and small molecule production in body fluids (Project 3). In order for biomarkers to be useful as biodosimeters, it is important to be able to determine how accurately and effectively the marker measurements allow classification of irradiated individuals on the basis of the radiation doses they have sustained. To do this the Consortium will have to be able to rapidly find those markers that not only separate the classes, but those which do so with the greatest resistance to inter-individual variation and assay noise. The Consortium will also benefit from a clear understanding of the ways in which the fundamental mechanisms of cellular response to radiation give rise to the measurable outcomes in the various assays proposed. In concert with the functional genomics Core and also with Project 3, this Core will analyze functional genomic and metabolomic measurements from the responding cells in most of these assays. This will allow assessments of the common and differential aspects of the genomic/metabolomic response in the various systems, and help us discern where the measurements provide complementary or redundant information. In summary, this Core will provide the bioinformatics that will be crucial to the success of Projects 2 and 3, and will provide statistical support in terms of experimental design and data analysis for all Consortium members.