Integration and interoperability of complex data and tissues from the human brain

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Project Summary: Health information is siloed and often suffers from the sheer volume and the heterogeneous nature of complex datasets. This is in stark contrast to what a physician does when a patient is evaluated. Data from electronic health records, blood tests, imaging, electrical recordings, genomic studies, and neuropsychological measures are combined in the clinician’s mind to find the best diagnosis and treatment plan. Nowhere is this more challenging than for studies of the human brain. We have developed a one-of-a-kind human brain tissue bank where each brain sample is spatially linked to a comprehensive multimodal dataset using standardized tissue processing techniques using a home-grown software platform called INTUITION. Highly curated and integrated data are assembled from patients to help both in clinical care and provide a unique research platform for the human brain that is linked to fresh human brain tissues samples. Many patients undergo complex, multistep brain surgeries to treat their seizures. Studies using these standardized tissue methods and INTUITION software have already led to important new discoveries including molecular (genomic, proteomic, metabolomic) biomarkers, imaging methods, brain network discovery, and therapeutic targets that would otherwise not have been identified. The major goals for this collaborative innovation award are to adapt, modify, and expand INTUITION and a brain tissue collection educational program into a standardized, virtual tissue bank and federated data platform for dissemination through 3 CTSA hubs with teams at 5 collaborating institutions in the city of Chicago. The platform leverages common data elements and will use a team of experts to develop new ones. As part of this ambitious project, we will optimize brain image visualization and EEG tools, work with a highly diverse patient population that spans the age spectrum (pediatric and adult) and develop user-friendly tools that will be sustainable because of their combined utility for clinical care and research. Given the extraordinary value of highly curated fresh human brain tissues and the fact that brain surgeries are becoming less invasive, it is important that we take full advantage of these priceless tissues as soon as possible. We will develop a hands-on education program followed by web-based training modules for human brain tissue localization and processing in parallel with standardized data processing, storage and upload methods for images and EEG studies at each of the 5 sites. This is especially important for rare brain disorders that require collaboration from many centers to create a standardized, virtual pool of tissue samples and associated data.