The Biomedical Informatics Research Network Carl Kesselman BIRN Principal Investigator Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering Information Sciences Institute Fellow Viterbi School of Engineering University of Southern California

Biomedical Informatics Research Network Infrastructure and services to support collaborative biomedical research Established by NCRR in 2001 Restructured in 2008

BIRN History 3 Distributed Test beds (Neuroscience/Neuroimaging Drivers) –Mouse, High Resolution Imaging and Animal Models of Human Diseases (Toga, UCLA) –Morph, Brain Structure in AD, Mild Cognitive Impairment, Depression (Rosen, MGH) –Function, Activation Differences in Schizophrenia (Potkin, UCI) BIRN IT Coordinating Center (Ellisman, UCSD) Distributed hardware with defined, evolving software on identical machines Centralized/BIRN-wide services BIRN “Portal ”

BIRN Executive Committee Steering Committee New and Existing Users/Collaborators New and Existing Users/Collaborators Community Outreach Working Groups BIRN CC Functions Infrastructure Communication Personnel BIRN CC Functions Infrastructure Communication Personnel Data Management Information Integration Knowledge Engineering Operations Security BIRN Administrative Structure

BIRN Approach Integrated Activity supported through 2 Cooperative Agreements (2008) Coordinating Center – Kesselman, USC/ISI Collaborative Tools Service Network – Rosen, MGH Customized solutions for collaborating groups Capabilities – defined in terms of user needs – Tools, Services, Expertise Layered architecture allows BIRN capabilities to be incorporated into the existing technology of the end user.

Engagement Model Contact with members of domain science collaborative group Define a Use Case Identify a driving need with well-defined goals Technical staff to construct and maintain the network Buy-in from the community Work with BIRN to develop a solution Integrate existing tools and services with BIRN Result is a customized, evolving infrastructure system

BIRN Approach Use-case driven requirements, bottom up design Well defined roadmaps, features, functions Follow capabilities approach from TeraGrid – Promote reuse across communities Move to software and services model – BIRN not defined by the “rack” Outreach to new communities – More than the testbeds

Technical Approach Bottom up, not top down Focus on user requirements, what they want to do Create solutions, factor out common requirements – Capability model includes software and process – Avoid “Big Design up Front” (BDUF)

Form of the Meeting Part One – detailed talks on five ongoing BIRN collaborations – chosen to show how collaborative work could be of use your institute Part Two – quick summaries of new and emerging capabilities Questions welcome – At the end of each presentation, we can field a few questions.

Interested to follow up? Contact us: – Carl Kesselman: – Joe Ames: – Karl Helmer: BIRN Website: