NIH BD2k Award $32M to improve utility of biomedical research Big Data

NIH invests almost $32 million to increase utility of biomedical research data
The four main components of the new BD2K awards are:

• Centers of Excellence for Big Data Computing. These 11 centers will develop innovative approaches, methods, software, tools and other resources. While the development efforts will focus on specific research questions, their output is expected to be more generally relevant to various aspects of big data science, such as data integration and use, analysis of genomic data and managing data from electronic health records.
• BD2K-LINCS Perturbation Data Coordination and Integration Center. This center will be a data coordination center for the NIH Common Fund’s Library of Integrated Network-based Cellular Signatures (LINCS) program, which aims to characterize how a variety of types of cells, tissues and networks respond to disruption by drugs and other factors. The center will support data science research focusing on interpreting and integrating LINCS-generated data from different data types and databases in the LINCS-funded projects. This center is co-funded by BD2K and the NIH Common Fund.
• BD2K Data Discovery Index Coordination Consortium (DDICC). This program will create a consortium to begin a community-based development of a biomedical data discovery index that will enable discovery, access and citation of biomedical research data sets.
• Training and Workforce Development. These awards support the education and training of current and future generations of researchers who will specialize in data science fields, as well as those whose work may require certain expertise in the use of or generation of large amounts of data and data resources.