Improving proteomics data access for the National Cancer Institute
How ICF helped the National Cancer Institute (NCI) modernize a cancer proteomics database, unlocking secure, high-speed access for researchers in 140+ countries.
Proteomics offers a powerful, precise way to understand and fight many cancers—but proteomics research requires enormous amounts of data from around the world. The Data Coordinating Center and Proteomic Data Commons, managed by the National Cancer Institute, houses much of this data. It’s used by physicians, clinicians, and scientists to develop new methods of cancer detection, diagnosis, and treatment.
Result at a glance
18
99
29
140
Challenge
Although vital to cancer research efforts around the world, the legacy Data Coordinating Center and Proteomic Data Commons ran on dated technology that delivered slow data transfer times and frequent file loss. NCI sought to modernize the warehouse, ensuring the vast amounts of data it housed could be better accessible to cancer researchers. The modernization effort required the secure movement of vast amounts of valuable data, ensuring no loss in the process.
Solution
- Cloud
- Digital modernization
- Data and analytics
NCI partnered with ICF to develop a secure portal that combined a new web server, database, file storage system, and high-speed data transfer server. We encrypted data in transit and then verified it with a checksum file ensuring researchers can correctly map files back to the right sample and accurately capture the information associated with tumor acquisition. Our teams employed harmonization tools to ensure that clinical data from many different sources were findable, usable, and comparable across cancer programs.
The modernized solution includes private areas where research teams from around the world can connect and securely share data with one another. It also features a Proteomic Data Commons Portal through which the public can access data from several international cancer consortiums.
Results
The modernized Data Coordinating Center and Proteomic Data Commons offers dramatically increased secure data storage and transfer capabilities for the cancer research community. The portal regularly manages 29 terabytes, with 785 terabytes of data downloaded in 140 countries (and counting). And the new platform’s encryption and verification tools give researchers confidence that files always map back to the right samples, ensuring the integrity of their work.
Through this partnership, ICF and NCI are contributing to the growing understanding of proteogenomics across many different types of cancer. Using the modernized Data Coordinating Center and Proteomic Data Commons, practitioners and researchers can accelerate the development of new diagnostics and lifesaving treatments that can transform the lives of people around the world.