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POCRC

Informatics Core

Principal Investigators:

Garnet Anderson, PhD, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

Martin McIntosh, PhD, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

The Informatics Core, staffed by biostatisticians and informatics experts, plays a vital role in the scientific success of the Pacific Ovarian Cancer Research Consortium (POCRC) by interacting with each project to ensure that only scientifically rigorous investigations are performed.  The Informatics Core is organized around the two main functions of 1) data management and 2) experimental design and analysis. 

To facilitate data management in a Consortium that includes several institutions and Inter-SPORE collaborations, the Informatics Core seeks to standardize protocols for recruitment, characterization and follow-up of participants, as well as standardizing blood collection, processing, storage, and analysis of specimens.  It is responsible for organizing all information associated with specimens in the POCRC specimen repository, including tracking the type of specimen and quantities of tissue available; specimen location and access; corresponding clinical and epidemiological data; and the results of all experimental measurements conducted on each specimen.

The Informatics Core (IC) brings together biostatistical, informatics and database experts to support the information and analysis needs of the individual SPORE projects.  We have developed a comprehensive informatics system that currently maintains data for nearly 20,000 specimens from 1,200 women.  The IC has also provided analytic support for a variety of studies that have utilized these specimens, resulting in several published and submitted manuscripts dealing with quantitative issues, including the analysis of micro array data.

The IC is currently expanding our informatics system to allow web-enabled access to specimen related information through a Virtual Shared Specimen Repository (VSSR) that allows researchers to simultaneously access information about specimens in repositories at FHCRC, Cedars-Sinai and other collaborating institutions.  In addition, we have taken a lead role in InterSPORE activities by chairing the InterSPORE Informatics Committee and developing a shared specimen report that describes resources available at the four SPORE sites.

Informatics Core Publications:

  1. Boguski MS, McIntosh MW. Biomedical Informatics for Proteomics, Nature/Insight, Vol 422, No. March, 2003, 43-47.
  2. Pepe MS, Longton G, Anderson GL, Schummer M. Selecting Differentially Expressed Genes from Microarray Experiments. Biometrics 59:133-142, 2003.
  3. McIntosh MW, Urban N. A parametric empirical Bayes method for cancer screening using longitudinal observations of a biomarker. Biostatistics 2003 Jan;4(1):27–40.
  4. McIntosh MW, Pepe MS. Combining several screening tests: optimality of the risk score. Biometrics 2002 Sep;58(3):657–664.
  5. McIntosh MW, Urban N, Karlan B. Generating longitudinal screening algorithms using novel biomarkers for disease. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention 2002 Feb;11(2):159–166.
  6. Pauler DK, Menon U, McIntosh M, Symecko HL, Skates SJ, Jacobs IJ. Factors influencing serum CA125II levels in healthy postmenopausal women. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention 2001 May;10(5):489–493.
  7. Crump C, McIntosh MW, Urban N, Anderson G, Karlan BY. Ovarian cancer tumor marker behavior in asymptomatic healthy women: implications for screening. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention 2000 Oct;9(10):1107–1111.
Overview

Research Projects

Program Resources
(Cores)

Developmental Research Program

Career Development Program

Physician Advisory Committee

How to Request POCRC Specimens

SPORE Supplements