Architecture:ArchitecturePages

In the area of informatics, the EDRN has been a pioneer in providing a strong informatics component to support biomarker research using novel approaches. As a distributed, collaborative network, EDRN relies on a strong infrastructure to support research across cancer research institutions and individual laboratories. Since its inception, EDRN has had a grand vision for a knowledge system that enables researchers the ability to capture, access and share study and results from biomarker research using a modern informatics infrastructure.

The virtual system is unique across the National Cancer Institute by bridging diverse systems in order to support scientific collaboration and increase the ability to perform analysis of data across multiple computing environments. The EDRN Knowledge Environment, as it is known, is the flagship activity of the EDRN informatics team. It is a national data grid that allows diverse systems to be integrated and to share data for the EDRN. In traditional information systems, the solution is often to start over and build from the ground up. EDRN, however, took diverse information and systems and connected them together using JPL’s Object Oriented Data Technology (OODT) software. OODT won runner-up for NASA Software of the Year in 2003 by serving as a science data system framework allowing for systems to be quickly built and integrated using existing information as a way to improve analysis of distributed data. OODT is heavily used at NASA to build mission data systems, share data sets for planetary and earth science and to support advanced climate research.

The EDRN Knowledge System brings together the EDRN laboratories to pull information about biomarker, studies, specimens and results into an integrated enterprise for biomarker research. Curation of the Biomarker Database enriches the EDRN Knowledge System with links to public resources as well. The EDRN Resource Network Exchange (ERNE) was the first application built to support sharing of data for EDRN using OODT. Fifteen sites have been connected to share specimen information. The informatics team has worked across EDRN to support the capture, sharing, integration and analysis of EDRN data and to ensure that knowledge system provides the infrastructure needed to not only support sharing of data for single data objects such as specimens, but provide an entire knowledge system that semantically links all types of information together in order to transform EDRN into a true collaborative network with a deep knowledge-base of biomarker research. In establishing this infrastructure, the informatics team has adhered to a set of critical goals for ensuring the informatics platform scaled to meet the long-term objectives of EDRN and could continue to be expanded as a success story for informatics within the National Cancer Institute. These goals (defined in the EDRN 4th Report) include:

1.	Defining an information model for describing the EDRN problem space;

2.	Enabling all components of the knowledge system to be distributed;

3.	Providing software interfaces for capture, discovery and access of data resources;

4.	Providing a secure transfer and distribution infrastructure to meet United States federal regulations for data sharing; and

5.	Providing an integrated portal environment across the distributed EDRN.

Several papers and presentations exist that describe the EDRN architecture.


 * A Distributed Information Services Architecture to Support Biomarker Discovery in Early Detection of Cancer


 * Presentation of EDRN Infrastructure to the Board oof Scientific Advisors


 * Various Architecture Documents