1. Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health National Center for Research Resources Division of Research Infrastructure
Extending the Reach of Advanced Networking: Two Pilot Projects at the NCRR
Susan R. Kayar, Ph.D.
Shelia A. McClure, Ph.D.
Increased Internet connectivity in support of biomedical research is a high priority at the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). connectivity projects that are currently active within the IDeA and RCMI programs.

2. Institutional Development Award (IDeA)/DRI
Designed to enhance the competitiveness for biomedical research funding of institutions located in states with historically low funding from NIH.
Inclusion of underserved populations is a primary feature.
Research focus is broad.
IDeA program. It is designed to provide funding to institutions in states that have historically received very little funding from the NIH. We encourage the inclusion of institutions serving minorities. The research that this program supports has a broad health focus that covers the entire range of biomedical research subjects that are found across the country and around the world today. The goal of the program is to enhance the research capacity and educational opportunities at the participating institutions, by promoting the development and sharing of research resources and expertise within and among institutions, and increasing the number of current and future competitive researchers.

3. Eligible States 23 States and Puerto Rico
The states eligible for IDeA support: include 23 states and PR. Eligibility is based on their history of relatively low funding from NIH.
23 States and Puerto Rico

4. How is the Internet used at IDeA-Funded Institutions?
Communications
and basic computer services
Library access
Website design and utilization
Video teleconferencing
Genomics and Proteomics data management
Imaging
Equipment linking and collaboratories
Data Mining
Computing at high speed, high capacity
Archiving of databases
What are the Internet uses within these institutions? Many IDeA institutions are behind in even basic desktop computing and Internet 1 access. Once they are up to current standards, their next request is usually for higher speed and higher capacity connectivity to give them real-time video teleconferencing capacity.
Other IDeA-funded research programs can identify very specific research directions and equipment they need. Modern biomedical fields are typically massively data intensive and have very specific requirements for data collection and analysis. Other high-speed, high throughput computer needs include imaging, the linking of multiple pieces of equipment in one lab or between collaborating institutions, the sharing and analysis of massive data bases; and long-term archiving of large databases.

5. “IDeANet” Project *
For the past several years, it has been a goal of the NCRR to target funds directly for Internet connectivity as a means of facilitating collaborations among institutions. The grand vision is to connect all IDeA institutions with each other and with the rest of the US, and also to include the RCMI institutions (which Dr. McClure will be describing to you in a moment).
As a pilot project, we decided to start where the need was greatest within IDeA states, which is in the western region. Six states—Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Nevada-- are all included in this project. As is immediately apparent from this list of states, this is also the most geographically challenging place to start. The NCRR gave this project the pragmatic name of Western Region Infonet; however, the grantees quickly changed it to the more evocative “Lariat”. This project is being funded as a Cooperative Agreement, with Dr. Gwen Jacobs of Montana State University as the Principal Investigator, and a steering committee composed of Dr. Jacobs as head, Mr. Ron Johnson, who is the VP for Computing and Communications at the University of Washington as lead technical coordinator for the project, and the principal investigators of six IDeA-funded projects in the participating states. This audience is very familiar with maps of the Abilene Backbone, National Lambda Rail, and some other major connectivity networks, so you will not be surprised to know that Washington State, California, and Colorado are where the nearest gigapops are in this region, and that success of this project requires close collaboration with people in these surrounding non-IDeA states. We are very privileged that they have been so cooperative with time and resources. We are hoping that they view their generosity now as a means for them to access colleagues and resources that will become available to them when Lariat is completed.
Increased connectivity for high-bandwidth science applications in six western IDeA states is first step.

6. Geographic Reality of Western Region IDeANet

7. Internet2 – ‘Abilene’ 10gb/s Upgrade

8. Connections to Backbone
U. Idaho
U. Wyoming
PNWGP
U. Nevada
Reno
Montana State U
CENIC
FRGP
U. Hawaii
U. Alaska

9. Multiple Levels of Benefit
IDeANet will relieve strategic bottlenecks in connectivity entering states.
One major university campus per state to be directly linked.
In general, connectivity of on-campus and in-state networks is relatively high.
Many sites throughout states will experience improved Internet performance.
Can leverage benefits to other university departments and other institutions.

10. Additional Institutional Needs
End-to-end performance evaluation at all sites;
Before/after performance metrics;
Assessment of needs for computer configurations, software, etc.;
Address IT personnel issues (‘wizard gap’);
Assess opportunities for achieving better connectivity to other institutions in each state.

11. Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI)
Designed to expand the Nation’s capacity for conducting biomedical research at institutions with 50% or greater enrollment of underrepresented minorities that grant doctoral degrees in health/health-related sciences;
Strengthen research environments and improve faculty research competitiveness;
Enhance the clinical research capacity
The RCMI program was designed as a funding opportunity aimed at institutions that serve primarily minorities (50% or more enrollment), and that grant doctoral degrees in biomedicine. The intent of this program is to strengthen the research environment within these institutions by providing the funds for infrastructure in its broadest sense: equipment, supplies, building renovations, and people- training opportunities, travel to meetings, mentorship opportunities, and so on. The expectation is that better infrastructure will promote faculty research competitiveness for funding from other grant programs and agencies. The expectation is also that this program will enhance clinical research at minority institutions, which is likely to be an excellent source of biomedical research aimed at health disparities for minority communities.

13. How is the Internet used at RCMI Institutions ?
All the usual academic uses
Research training and faculty development
Bioinformatics and computational biology
Research networks on health disparities
Global collaborations
How is the Internet used at the RCMI insts? By and large, the same way it is used in other academic centers: electronic communication, data processing, sharing and storage, educational programs, bioinformatics, and so on. The particular specialties of the RCMI community would be to use the Internet as a means of creating research networks designed to address health disparities, and allow for international collaborations in support of research on diseases that disproportionately affect various ethnic groups.

14. RCMI Translational Research Network (RTRN) Goals:
Establish a stable high performance network linking RCMI sites and other sites (using Internet2 Abilene infrastructure)
Establish distributed and linked data collections for the test bed clinical research projects
Enable data mining from multiple data collections or databases
Develop a stable software and hardware infrastructure with partnering groups that will allow centers to coordinate efforts to accumulate larger studies than can be carried out at one site

15. RCMI Translational Research Network (RTRN)
The RTRN will include:
Consortium of clinical investigators from the RCMI Clinical Research Centers;
Translational and clinical investigators from other RCMI institutions as appropriate for studies;
Other NIH-supported Clinical Research Centers;
Other relevant organizations, including patient support organizations, for the study of a subgroup of diseases; and
Data and Technology Coordinating Center (DTCC)

16. RTRN - DTCC The DTCC will provide :
Scalable coordinated clinical data management system for collection, storage, and analysis of data of the RTRN
Portal and tools for integration of developed and publicly available datasets for data mining at RCMI Centers
Web based recruitment and referral
User friendly resource site for the public, research scientists, and clinicians

17. RTRN This cooperative program should:
facilitate identification of biomarkers for disease risk, disease severity/activity, and clinical outcomes
encourage development of new approaches to diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of those diseases that disproportionately affect minority populations