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    Research Informatics Core

    The Research Informatics Core (RIC) was established in March 2010 with funding from the Health Center Research Advisory Council (HCRAC) to provide the research community with the resources (hardware, software, people) necessary to meet their needs. The Core recognizes that each researcher has specific and unique needs, requiring customized solutions that cannot be provided by a “one-size-fits-all” approach. The Core is therefore committed to providing innovative solutions that not only meet, but also exceed the expectations of our customers and delivering them with first-class customer care. Core services are available at UConn Health only.

    Service Highlights:

    • Leading efforts to establish the Bioscience Connecticut Research Network (BCTRN). Our aim is to create a collaborative high speed (100GB) science network to accommodate High Performance Computing and Big Data storage across multiple institutions.
    • In collaboration with the Center for Cell Analysis and Modeling (CCAM) Computational Facility, provide high performance computing (compute nodes and big data storage and management). Learn more.
    • Installed and manage  REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) for electronic data capture. View Brochure. Learn more.
    • In collaboration with Enterprise IT, procured and implemented Axway File Transfer Direct for secure (1 GB+) file transfer. To access, visit https://ftd.uchc.edu
    • Created R2D2 (Research Registry and De-identified Database) to consolidate clinical data derived from multiple, disparate clinical information systems into a single database for research. R2D2 uses the i2b2 ontologies, data schema and graphical user interface. Current phase covers ICD-9 diagnoses/procedures, CPT-4 codes, demographics, admission source, discharge destination, and clinical lab results. Future phases will include medication administration data and biorepositories and integrate with UConn Health ambulatory EMR.
    • Built CFAR (Comprehensive Faculty Activity Registry), a central database for managing faculty curriculum vitae (CVs). The system covers all aspects of an academic CV (education, teaching, pubs, grants, biography, membership on committees and professional/scientific organizations, etc.). Automatic data uploads include: Human Resources data (daily); grants (weekly); and publications (monthly). CFAR productivity output tools include: an interactive tool for generating a Biosketch specifically formatted for NIH grants; a faculty directory locator service (http://facultydirectory.uchc.edu); a physician locator service (http://uconndocs.uchc.edu/); a dentist locator service (http://uconndentists.uchc.edu/); and a template to generate the School of Medicine’s faculty Annual Merit Plan (AMP).
    • Built STARR (Study and Recruitment Registry) to facilitate recruitment of participants into clinical research studies by publishing a list of active clinical studies and allowing members of the public to view and self-enroll for later contact by clinical investigators for potential participation in their studies. STARR can be access at http://ClinicalTrials.uchc.edu. View Brochure.  View UConn Today Article.
    • Participated in a successful grant application to the NIH to fund the acquisition of a 10 TFlop, 1024 processor core cluster with 4 TB distributed RAM to be housed and managed in the Center for Cell Analysis and Modeling to meet the need of our computational biologists for supercomputing. Learn more.
    • Participated in a successful grant application to the NSF’s Science DMZ funding opportunity to improve the network infrastructure at UConn Storrs and UConn Health and enable data-intensive research. Learn more.

     

    Advisory Group:

    An advisory committee created to provide guidance and prioritization of Core initiatives. Members include:

    • K. Abu-Hasaballah, Assistant Vice President for Research Informatics, Information Technology
    • D. Adams, Assistant Professor, Orthopaedic Surgery
    • D. Carroll, Director, Office of Research & Sponsored Programs
    • J. Grady, Professor, Department of Community Medicine and Director of the Biostatistics Center
    • M. Maciejewski, Assistant Professor, Molecular, Microbial, & Structural Biology
    • R. Mains, Professor and Chair, Department of Neuroscience
    • I. Moraru, Associate Professor, Center for Cell Analysis & Modeling
    • H. Potts, Systems Coordinator, General Clinical Research Center

     

    Seminars: