Winter/Spring 2016 Issue I The Global Alzheimer’s Association Interactive Network Newsletter
WELCOME From GAAIN’s PI, Arthur W. Toga
IN THIS ISSUE:
THE FIRST OF ITS KIND GAAIN developed the first usable online research platform to link scientists with data and tools CHANGING INVESTIGATORS’ APPROACH TO RESEARCH Bringing investigators and data holders into a common virtual space GAAIN RECEIVES PRAISE AND POSITIVE FEEDBACK AT AAIC Researchers expressed excitement for the opportunity to interact and immediately receive responses to their scientific questions GAAIN UPHOLDS DATA SECURITY STANDARDS – THE DATA LIVES WITH OUR PARTNERS Interfaces are easy to use but do not infringe upon data ownership and security set forth by our partners GAAIN LAUNCHES TWO INTERACTIVE RESEARCH INTERFACES The GAAIN Scoreboard and the GAAIN Interrogator
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t is with great pleasure I introduce you to the inaugural issue of GAAINews, the newsletter for the Global Alzheimer’s Association Interactive Network (GAAIN). Since its launch on September 15, 2013, GAAN has made tremendous strides to connect scientists worldwide with data and resources. This issue of GAAINews highlights the goals of the GAAIN project, an introduction of the GAAIN systems (the GAAIN Scoreboard and GAAIN Interrogator), GAAIN’s presence at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference and the Data Integration in Life Sciences conference, the establishment of 30 active Data Partners and a note from our funders. I hope this issue shares our excitement and passion for connecting researchers around the global and accelerating big data research in the field of Alzheimer’s disease. As we continue our work, we look forward to establishing additional partnerships and creating novel approaches for big data science in dementia research. Lastly, I personally invite you to explore GAAIN by visiting www.gaain.org. With Regards,
A NOTE FROM OUR FUNDERS: THE ALZHEIMER’S ASSOCIATION RECENT PUBLICATIONS UPCOMING EVENTS
Arthur W. Toga Principal Investigator, GAAIN Director, Laboratory of Neuro Imaging Director, USC Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute
THE FIRST OF ITS KIND The Global Alzheimer’s Association Interactive Network (GAAIN) has developed the first, usable online research platform to link scientists with the data and tools. Investigators can get answers to complex scientific questions about Alzheimer’s disease through facilitating and sharing Alzheimer’s disease research data by joining our global network of Alzheimer’s disease study centers that share data. Since the launch of GAAIN’s website (www.gaain.org) prior to September 15, 2013, the GAAIN team has recruited over one hundred data partners and affiliates to join the GAAIN effort to accelerate Alzheimer’s disease research. These groups provide resources and data that enable investigators to perform comparative data analysis and cohort discovery. GAAIN, funded by the Alzheimer’s Association, continues to improve and expand while reaching out to new potential Data Partners in order to develop a comprehensive and efficient platform where investigators can search and access Alzheimer’s disease data in a collaborative and innovative manner.
GAAIN UPHOLDS DATA SECURITY STANDARDS – THE DATA LIVES WITH OUR PARTNERS GAAIN aims to build a comfortable online research community for investigators and data partners. We created interfaces that are easy to use and do not infringe upon data ownership and security set forth by our partners. Firstly, GAAIN never copies Partner data to its server disks, leaving our Partners in full control of their data contributions to GAAIN. We believe Data Security Standards continued on page 3
GAAIN AIMS TO CHANGE THE WAY INVESTIGATORS APPROACH ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE RESEARCH GAAIN provides an unprecedented opportunity to the Alzheimer’s disease research community. By bringing investigators and data holders in a common, virtual space, scientific exchange and discovery can be rapid, conclusive and groundbreaking – unlike ever before across all complex diseases. GAAIN provides a unique solution for Data Partners by addressing specific access control issues related to data sharing in a way never done before. GAAIN leaves the control over data access in the hands of the data owner and provided mechanisms for sharing data that have a low cost for the data owner. In addition, GAAIN gives data owners credit by presenting the Partner’s logo and a link to website on all GAAIN interfaces. Furthermore, the GAAIN system maximizes usability of data by transforming individual source data into a common schema and encoding standard thereby
making direct comparisons possible without requiring investigators to first decode data from each data source. For investigators, the GAAIN system invites exploration by presenting an interactive graphical interface through which data may be quickly and easily understood. It also strengthens the validation of research results by maximizing cohort sample size and extending the opportunity for an independent cohort to replicate research findings.
GAAIN is in the process of onboarding 160+ data partners from around the globe.
GAAIN RECEIVES PRAISE AND POSITIVE FEEDBACK AT AAIC 2015 With thousands of attendees, the 2015 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Washington D.C. presented itself as a fantastic opportunity to engage with Alzheimer’s disease researchers and demonstrate the GAAIN systems at the GAAIN booth in the exhibit hall. Overall, researchers expressed their excitement for the opportunity to interact and immediately receive responses to their scientific questions. One researcher remarked, “I can directly see the power and impact these tools [the GAAIN systems] can have on Alzheimer’s disease research. I look forward to working
with them in the future.” Many researchers and clinicians conveyed their interest and are currently in various stages of becoming a GAAIN data partner. The GAAIN team also presented at the Worldwide Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (WW-ADNI) meeting, the Data Sharing Platform in Alzheimer’s focused topic session, the Collaboration of Alzheimer’s Prevention meeting. GAAIN also hosted a Meet and Greet for our partners designed to develop cross-relationships among our partners and to provide insight of GAAIN’s next steps. Please visit us at AAIC 2016 at our booth in the Exhibition Hall. 2
Winter/Spring 2016 Issue I
GAAIN LAUNCHES TWO INTERACTIVE RESEARCH INTERFACES
DATA SECURITY STANDARDS continued from page 2
there is no safer solution than keeping the data where it originates. Secondly, the contributed data is always managed securely using industry-standard transmission protocols. Thirdly, investigator access is solely managed and determined by our Data Partners. It is up to the partners to decide who may use their data.
Data Partners
Handedness
Race
Ethnic Group
Country
MMSE
APPLY
1,386
882
1,386
1,386
882
0
0
0
0
0
ONLINE 1,387 Subjects APPLY
ONLINE 342 Subjects APPLY
APPLY
APPLY
30,585 ONLINE CohortSubjects #1 Subjects 30,585 Cohort #2 Subjects
APPLY
APPLY
30,585
ONLINE
ONLINE
105 456
0 0
0 16,908
0 ONLINE
ONLINE
ONLINE
3219 1,670
170 54,517
0 793
0 9480
0
0
APPLY Subjects
49,022
91,003
Diagosis
AD
MCI, NL
20 ≤ 30
All
2,612 Subjects
APPLY
29,239
ONLINE
Cohort #2
MMSE
APPLY
30,585 ONLINE
Cohort #1
ONLINE
APPLY
APPLY
29,239
ONLINE
202,375 Subjects
202,375
0
The GAAIN Scoreboard is designed to quickly and interactively discover which GAAIN partners have Edit attributes... Edit attributes... data meeting your research objective. 49,448 Total Subjects
Number of Subjects
29,239 140 120 100 80 60 40
11,679
20 0
500
1000
1.5k
2k 4,285
2.5k
3k
3.5k
1,743
4k
4.5k
902
5k
5.5k
822
613 CSF level of beta-amyloid 42 (pg/ml)
GAAIN investigators can see what kinds of data are available to them by interacting with the GAAIN Scoreboard. Using its sleek and animated interface, the GAAIN Scoreboard provides researchers an instantaneous count of the number of subjects each Data Partner has data for in the GAAIN system based the investigator’s search criteria. Investigators simply select different data attributes and are provided results to their request instantly, both graphically and numerically. Investigators may also apply directly to each Data Partner for the full set of their data from this interface. GAAIN investigators can search all the data made available by the Data Partners using the GAAIN Interrogator. The Interrogator shows investigators how data fits together by graphing the data in interconnected views. Instead of typing numbers into text boxes, investigators search the data by interacting with graphs. The data is “interrogated” by manipulating the graphs, which changes the search parameters and automatically update the entire display. Searching takes place by dynamically defining cohorts and visually exploring the differences between them. Every search result shows the number of subjects from each Data Partner and directs investigators where to obtain the data from each Data Partner.
550 500 450 400 350 300 250 200 150 53 -1
2.2k
2.4k
2.6k
2.8k
3k
3.2k
3.4k
3.6k
3.8k
4k
4.2k
4.4k
5534
Volume of the left hippocampus (mm^3)
The GAAIN Interrogator instantly and interactively allows researchers to ask scientific questions by definingcohorts and studying the relationships of variables between them.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS Neu S, Crawford KL & Toga AW. 2015. Sharing data in the Global Alzheimer’s Association Interactive Network. NeuroImage, S1053-8119(15)00472-3. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.05.082 Ashish N & Toga AW. 2015. Medical data transformation using rewriting. Front. Neuroinform., 9:1. Toga AW, Neu SC, Bhatt P, Crawford KL & Ashish N. 2015. The Global Alzheimer’s Association Interactive Network. Alzheimers & Dementia, S15525260(15)02651-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jalz.2015.06.189 Toga AW, Bhatt P & Ashish N. 2016. Data sharing in Alzheimer’s disease research. Alzheimer’s Disease and Associated Disorders. Epub ahead of print. 3
A NOTE FROM OUR FUNDERS: THE ALZHEIMER’S ASSOCIATION RECENT ADDITIONS TO OUR PARTNERS AND AFFILIATES Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative Australian Imaging Biomarkers and Lifestyle Flagship Study of Ageing BIOCARD: Predictors of Cognitive Decline Among Normal Individuals Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging Canberra Longitudinal Study on Aging Critical Path Institute Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer’s Network European Alzheimer’s Disease Initiative European Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study Framingham Heart Study French National Alzheimer’s Database Fundacio ACE Health and Retirement Study Hellenic Longitudinal Investigation of Aging and Diet Integrated NeuroDegenerative Disease database Italian Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance Research Layton Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease Center Longitudinal Online Research and Imaging System National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center National Institute of Aging Genetic Alzheimer’s Disease Data Storage Site / Alzheimer’s Disease Genetic Consortium neuGRID for You Open Access Series of Imaging Studies Personality and Total Health through life Quantitative Imaging Biomarker Alliance Risk Evaluation and Education for Alzheimer’s Disease study Translational Genomics Research Institute USC/UAB Clinical Trials Collaboration Wisconsin Longitudinal Study Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer’s Prevention
Advancing our understanding of Alzheimer’s disease requires big data that is cataloged, aggregated and accessible. By linking scientists, projects and data together, the Global Alzheimer’s Association Interactive Network (GAAIN™) is leading the way to a new level of collaboration that is critical to finding solutions for this disease. The Alzheimer’s Association is committed to providing essential resources like GAAIN to engage global expertise and solve this worldwide epidemic. With the significant participation of the research community, GAAIN is transforming the field, improving the way we exchange and interrogate data, and leading us closer to understating and stopping this disease.
Maria Carrillo Chief Science Officer
UPCOMING EVENTS June 26-30, 2016 (Geneva, Switzerland) Organization for Human Brain Mapping Conference July 24-27, 2016 (Toronto, Canada) Alzheimer’s Association International Conference Visit us at our booth in the Exhibition Hall
Join us! Become a GAAIN Partner by visiting www.gaain.org/partners Email: info@GAAIN. org Website: http://www.gaain.org The Global Alzheimer’s Association Interactive Network Powered by the Laboratory of Neuro Imaging (LONI)
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