U24CA258483

Sustaining the Integrative Imaging Informatics for Cancer Research (I3CR) Center - Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) and other computationally intensive methods have the potential to revolutionize cancer imaging research and patient care. The broad adoption of these technologies depends on the availability and development of imaging informatics tools to assist users in managing massive data sets, generating well-curated annotations, and accessing scalable computing resources.

The Integrative Imaging Informatics for Cancer Research (I3CR) Center has played a lead role in implementing cancer imaging informatics technology, with a focus on expanding the widely used open-source XNAT informatics platform to better support computational workflows in cancer imaging. I3CR has also developed knowledge management tools to better track data processing and analysis, including tools for orchestrating and tracking container-based computing pipelines. As a result of this work, XNAT has emerged as the most widely used imaging informatics platform in cancer research. It is deployed in over 200 organizations across academia and industry and has been adopted across a wide range of research contexts, including preclinical imaging, multi-site clinical trials, and clinical translation.

As the I3CR informatics platform has matured and been widely adopted, the center is now evolving to the next phase of development to more broadly sustain the platform. In the work proposed here, we will sustain the I3CR's ongoing engineering initiatives and expand its outreach efforts. The center's sustainment activities will build on and extend the I3CR platform's expansive set of data and knowledge management capabilities, with a focus on addressing key emergent needs within our user base.

In Aim 1, we will continue to develop the XNAT-based data management platform, including adding standards-based clinical interfaces, developing a cohort discovery service with natural language processing support, implementing a task automation service, and extending its container-based computing service to support high-performance computing and cloud computing environments.

In Aim 2, we will implement a suite of integrations with complementary image analysis and data sharing platforms, including the Cancer Image Archive and the NCI Imaging Data Commons.

In Aim 3, we will expand the I3CR's outreach initiatives to ensure broad and effective adoption of the I3CR informatics platforms. The center's training program will utilize the XNAT Academy education platform to host a series of online training programs directed at specific audiences, including developers, data scientists, integrators, and system administrators. A suite of supporting cloud services will be implemented to assist the community in adopting and developing on the I3CR platform.

Washington University

TO IMPROVE SCREENING AND EARLY DETECTION STRATEGIES AND TO DEVELOP ACCURATE DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES AND METHODS FOR PREDICTING THE COURSE OF DISEASE IN CANCER PATIENTS. SCREENING AND EARLY DETECTION RESEARCH INCLUDES DEVELOPMENT OF STRATEGIES TO DECREASE CANCER MORTALITY BY FINDING TUMORS EARLY WHEN THEY ARE MORE AMENABLE TO TREATMENT. DIAGNOSIS RESEARCH FOCUSES ON METHODS TO DETERMINE THE PRESENCE OF A SPECIFIC TYPE OF CANCER, TO PREDICT ITS COURSE AND RESPONSE TO THERAPY, BOTH A PARTICULAR THERAPY OR A CLASS OF AGENTS, AND TO MONITOR THE EFFECT OF THE THERAPY AND THE APPEARANCE OF DISEASE RECURRENCE. THESE METHODS INCLUDE DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING AND DIRECT ANALYSES OF SPECIMENS FROM TUMOR OR OTHER TISSUES. SUPPORT IS ALSO PROVIDED FOR ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING RESOURCES OF HUMAN TISSUE TO FACILITATE RESEARCH. SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) PROGRAM: TO EXPAND AND IMPROVE THE SBIR PROGRAM, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, TO INCREASE SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION IN FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION. SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR) PROGRAM: TO STIMULATE AND FOSTER SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION THROUGH COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CARRIED OUT BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO FOSTER TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION.

93.394 - Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research

National Cancer Institute (NCI) [HHS - NIH]

Saint Louis, Missouri 631101010 United States

Single Zip Code

Sustained Support for Informatics Technologies for Cancer Research and Management (U24 Clinical Trial Optional) (RFA-CA-20-010)

Amendment Since initial award the total obligations have increased 417% from $770,038 to $3,982,169.