SBIR Phase I: HEPbaseTM: Specialized Software for Storage, Retrieval and Linkage of Hepatitis Data

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将支持软件的开发，使肝炎流行病研究人员管理和分析其数据的方式现代化。该项目最初将为丙型肝炎病毒学家提供解决方案，并将在第二阶段资助期间及以后扩展以容纳来自其他肝炎病毒株的数据。科学家需要新的工具来最大化他们所收集的信息的价值。该公司将开发的软件包含：1)将多个不同数据源集成到自动化高维仓库的独特应用程序；2)执行HCV基因研究项目中常见的重复任务的应用程序；3)提供新颖数据注释功能和最终新的查询方法的工具4)用于自动比对HCV蛋白序列的专用比对工具5)将HCV蛋白序列与宿主微阵列表达数据连接起来的能力。结果将是大大提高分析能力和缩短数据处理时间的软件。NSF认识到数据的管理和分析是成功的关键因素。如果成功，该解决方案将面向全球学术界、生物技术和制药市场的肝炎研究人员。最初的重点是，丙型肝炎（HCV）感染是一个严重的问题，因为它在全球范围内分布，是一种慢性表现，是一种常见的HIV合并感染。丙型肝炎病毒感染在感染后20年内变为急性感染；由于药物治疗的改善，HIV感染者的寿命延长，HCV合并感染HIV患者已成为一个严重的问题。到2005年，估计仅在美国就需要10万例肝脏移植手术。从遗传学和实验两方面跟踪这一流行病的重要性正变得越来越重要，而且极其困难。了解丙型肝炎病毒的遗传变异很重要，因为它与病毒与宿主的相互作用、感染的严重程度、对感染的敏感性和治疗有关。拟议的解决方案将通过提供专门针对HCV研究人员独特需求的分析和组织能力，显著提高他们的效率和生产力。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will support the development of software which will modernize the way that researchers of the hepatitis epidemic manage and analyze their data. This project will provide a solution for the hepatitis C virologist initially, and will expand to accommodate data from other hepatitis virus strains during Phase II funding and beyond. Scientists need new tools to maximize the value of their collected information. The company will develop software that contains 1) unique applications for integrating multiple sources of disparate data into an automated high-dimensional warehouse, 2) applications that perform repetitious tasks common to HCV genetic research projects, 3) tools that provide novel data annotation capabilities and ultimately new querying methods 4) a specialized alignment tool for automatic alignment of HCV protein sequences and 5) the ability to link HCV protein sequences with host microarray expression data. The result will be software that greatly improves analysis capabilities and reduces data processing time The NSF recognizes that management and analysis of data are critical success factors. If successful the proposed solution will be marketable to hepatitis researchers worldwide in academics, biotechnology, and the pharmaceutical marketplace. The initial focus, hepatitis C (HCV) infection is a serious concern because it is distributed globally, is a chronic manifestation, and is a common co- infection with HIV. HCV infection becomes acute within 20-years post-infection; as HIV infected individuals are living longer because of better medications, HCV co-infection of the HIV patient has become a serious problem. By the year 2005, an estimated 100,000 liver transplants will be needed in the US alone. The importance of tracking the epidemic, both genetically and experimentally, is becoming increasingly important and exceedingly difficult. Understanding the genetic variation in HCV is important because it is implicated in virus-host interactions, severity of infection, sensitivity to infection, and treatment. The proposed solution will dramatically increase the efficiency and productivity of HCV researchers by providing analytical and organizational power specifically designed to address their unique needs.