# Data Management and Bioinformatics Core

> **NIH NIH U19** · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · 2023 · $283,040

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract – Data Management and Bioinformatics Core
This innovative integrated systems biology application seeks to further delineate the complex host/pathogen
interactions occurring at the alveolar level that lead to unsuccessful response to therapy in serious pneumonia.
The SCRIPT2 Systems Biology Center is intentionally multidisciplinary, increasing the complexity of interactions
and mandating a centralized approach to facilitate accomplishing the goals of this Systems Biology Center.
The overall goal of the Data Management and Bioinformatics (DMBI) Core is to develop and implement new
and enhanced computational resources that support SCRIPT2, and to share those resources broadly. The
DMBI Core will sit at the nexus of SCRIPT2 where it will provide the tools, methods, skills and infrastructure to
collect, integrate, transform, analyze and distribute the diverse data generated by the projects. The design
and implementation of the DMBI Core is based on the premise that genome-centric approaches and phenome-
centric approaches are both inherently scientifically limiting. Rather, a systems biology approach that gives
equal weight to all data types is more likely to produce significant findings. For the first phase of SCRIPT, the
DMBI Core developed a rich data infrastructure to support the integrative analysis of clinical and multi-omic
data. We will build on this foundation for SCRIPT2. The DMBI Core will advance systems biology data
management in three areas. First, expanding beyond existing processes for data quality assessment,
automated real-time flagging of anomalies based on statistical properties of past data, external data, and
public knowledge will guide subsequent inspection toward technical rigor, biological novelty, the identification
of rare patient subgroups, and provide near-time identification of emerging changes in the pathologies present
by recent patients. Second, we will extend our existing SCRIPT infrastructure to allow rapid cohort
identification, hypothesis generation, and analytic dataset creation. We propose extending the open-source
Leaf query tool to perform both person-based and sample-based queries against both the Observational
Medical Outcomes Partnership (OMOP) common data model and study-specific datasets. Tracking of
specimens through the various stages of experimental and computational processing – and providing
estimates of future data availability – will assist project management and preparations toward future data
usage and modeling. Third, the combination of clinical data with multi-omic data with newer computational
tools that combine code and data creates unique data and security challenges. Expanding on our experiences
in SCRIPT to raise awareness of best practices for securely using and sharing data and models while ensuring
privacy, in SCRIPT2 we will streamline processes and develop novel tools and methods to ensure a rapid and
fair balance between privacy and data utility.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10551463
- **Project number:** 2U19AI135964-06
- **Recipient organization:** NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** JUSTIN B. STARREN
- **Activity code:** U19 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $283,040
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2018-01-17 → 2027-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10551463

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10551463, Data Management and Bioinformatics Core (2U19AI135964-06). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10551463. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*