# National Metabolomics Data Repository - nextgen Metabolomics Workbench

> **NIH NIH U2C** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · 2021 · $3,009,222

## Abstract

Abstract
The primary objective of this proposal is the establishment of a robust, cloud-based National Metabolomics
Data Repository founded on the FAIR principle, i.e. findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable with
scalability, extensibility, and portability. Over the past six years, we have developed the first version of such a
repository, known as the Metabolomics Workbench (MW), and our overarching effort through this proposal will
be to develop the next generation MW as follows:
 - Support a state-of-the-art database infrastructure based on an open-access public domain relational
 database, PostGreSQL, which will house all metadata and data pertaining to metabolomics.
 - Establish community-acceptable metadata and data standards and develop newer standards, where
 lacking, with the aid of the expert community and other stakeholders.
 - Provide multiple easy-user interfaces with multiple format options for researchers to enter all metadata
 and data associated with a metabolomics study.
 - Develop interfaces and tools for easy access to querying and analyzing the data along with Application
 Programmer Interfaces (APIs) to add/extend existing tools and interfaces.
 - Generate, in consultation with the SEPCC, best practice protocols and APIs for tool integration.
 - Coordinate with the Metabolomics Steering Committee, the Governing Board, the SEPCC, and other
 stakeholders to ensure that the broad goals of the NIH Metabolomics Consortium are achieved.
 - Formulate mechanisms for very large community participation in burgeoning metabolomics resources
 and communicate to the larger biomedical community the value of using metabolomics data and tools
 for research.
The proposed NMDR will have 4 cores, namely a) the Admin Core, whose responsibility will be the overall
coordination, including the administration of all the NMDR cores and establishment of guidelines for
coordination with all other stakeholders; b) the Data Repository Core, which will house all metabolomics data,
provide a large suite of tools and provide interfaces for querying, analyzing, and displaying the data on a web
portal interface known as the nextgen MW, and encourage the broader community to deposit data; c) the
Governance Core, which will, along with the SEPCC, establish a body of eight experts (four recommended by
the PI) to provide deep guidance to the NMDR for choice of formats, protocols, and tools; and d) an additional
core, called the Data Services Core, which will be the harbinger for long-term stability. This forward-looking
Core will equip the NMDR for the future by porting the nextgen MW into a hybrid cloud environment and
developing a community-supported container technology for cloud-based metabolomics analysis tools.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10202576
- **Project number:** 5U2CDK119886-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Shankar Subramaniam
- **Activity code:** U2C (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $3,009,222
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-08-17 → 2025-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10202576

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10202576, National Metabolomics Data Repository - nextgen Metabolomics Workbench (5U2CDK119886-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10202576. Licensed CC0.

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