The Biomedical Informatics
Research Network (BIRN) is an NCRR initiative aimed at addressing
biomedical researchers' need to access and analyze data at diverse
sites throughout the country. BIRN brings together hardware and
develops the software necessary for a scalable network of databases
and computational resources. Issues of user authentication, data
integrity, security, and data ownership are also addressed.
Focus on NeuroImaging:
The plan is to focus on research involving neuroimaging. This
will enable BIRN to take advantage of the relatively advanced
level of sophistication of the neuroimaging community in the use
of information technology. An essential feature has been the creation
of infrastructure that can be deployed rapidly at other research
centers throughout the country that may have research emphases
outside of neuroimaging. This means that in addition to scalability,
the software/hardware must be reusable and extensible.
BIRN draws heavily on resources of the next generation internet
that is funded by the National Science Foundation for both design
and implementation. The initial awards join General Clinical Research
Centers (GCRCs) and co-located Biomedical Technology Research
Resources (P41s) to establish the necessary infrastructure in
the context of ongoing neuroimaging research projects.
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