Big dollars for big data in cancer research
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The Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center has received two gifts totaling $3 million that will allow it to create an endowed chair in cancer informatics. The chair was created through gifts from the Walther Cancer Foundation Inc. and the Regenstrief Foundation Inc., both of which are based in Indianapolis.
Cancer informatics aids researchers in analyzing huge amounts of data that can help identify those at risk of developing cancer, optimize prevention and detection, and identify the most effective treatments.
“We routinely generate enormous data sets, but the information needs to be effectively organized and analyzed to make a real difference,” said Dr. Kelvin Lee, director of the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center. “With these gifts, we’ll be able to recruit an expert who can lead us through the complexities of informatics and position IU as a leader in the developing field of cancer informatics.”
The chair holder will be a research scientist at the Regenstrief Institute and Simon cancer center and a faculty member at IU.
The foundations say rapid developments in technology have resulted in vast amounts of data. They says organizing the data, developing analytics to mine the data, and producing information beneficial to researchers is an enormous undertaking.
“Regenstrief Institute research scientists have a long history of leveraging big data to support discovery, leading to better outcomes for patients at the individual and the population levels,” said Susan Hickman, interim president and CEO of Regenstrief Institute. “We are fortunate to have partners who are both generous and visionary, enabling us to endow a chair focused specifically on cancer informatics that will invigorate collaboration and innovation in this critical area.”
Data ranges from that contained in electronic medical records to data generated from clinical, basic and translational population research