Researchers are currently unaware of the existence of a great deal of the output generated by biomedical research, and much of it is held in many disparate databases. The NCRI is working in partnership with stakeholders to deploy an internationally compatible biomedical information portal known as the ONcology Information eXchange (ONIX) that will facilitate the identification and access to geographically dispersed research resources. Using a single web interface (internet portal), users will be able to search many different research databases and explore the range of extant resources (tools, data and organisations) with a single search. The intention is to avoid unnecessary duplication of research effort, increase research impact through increased access to, and the novel integration of, existing data, as well as accelerate the generation of new knowledge through greater interoperability (and thus ability to collaborate) that will ultimately lead to improvement in patients’ lives.

To ensure success there are both cultural and technical challenges that need to be overcome.

The Cultural challenge

The benefits of sharing and reusing information in the life sciences are becoming clearer. To facilitate this, the NCRI has developed a data sharing policy adopted by all NCRI partners. Furthermore, it organises workshops and events to educate and support the practice of sharing data effectively and ethically enabling innovative and productive science within and across disciplines. Efficient collection, analysis, interpretation, exchange and integration of data are not possible without the use of data standards. The NCRI Informatics Initiative supports the development of such standards and has developed an online tool, the Cancer InfoMatrix, to provide information about UK and international informatics standards and other resources relevant across the spectrum of biomedical cancer research.

The Technical challenge

The ONcology Information eXchange (ONIX) portal is based around a grid middleware component and has the power to make a truly integrated computing environment. It has been designed to be interoperable with a similar infrastructure in the US (caBIG®), while adapters have demonstrated the ability to link ONIX to other bioinformatics infrastructures in use across the UK.

The initial focus for ONIX has been through its use as a discovery and search portal. The vast number of resources being generated by scientific research is hard to keep track of on a national and international basis. Our aim is to promote the cataloguing of what is available for others to use and the publication of that information via tools such as ONIX.

In addition, the quick identification of relevant information currently held across a vast range of data sets using a single query is now available in ONIX. However, this is just a first step toward developing the capability to undertake biologically aware searches (often referred to as semantic queries) that could combine data in new and novel ways which will show the utility and exemplify benefits of developing interoperability across existing informatics platforms. This goal is currently being explored in a collaborative approach with UCL and Imperial Colleges, London, along with groups within (caBIG®) and EMBL-EBI.