A breakthrough project is creating a community of experts and organizations to share critical information on cancer research which many believe has the potential to help transform cancer into a chronic, manageable disease within a decade. The project was funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and is managed by Booz Allen Hamilton, a leader in healthcare consulting for the federal government. 
The effort—called the cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid, or caBIG—is a virtual infrastructure that connects data, research tools, standards, scientists, and organizations to form "a World Wide Web of research" that is accelerating all aspects of cancer prevention, detection, and care by reducing technical and collaborative barriers.
The caBIG project is creating a "pathway for a new model in biomedicine," said Kenneth Buetow, director of the NCI's Center for Bioinformatics. The project earned the 2006 Computerworld Honors 21st Century Achievement Award for Science. As noted in the Computerworld Honors Program Case Study: "caBIG has been supported by the NCI as a key enabler of its vision to eliminate suffering and death due to cancer."
Launched in 2003 as part of a multi-year National Institutes of Health contract with Booz Allen, caBIG was developed in collaboration with 50 NCI cancer centers and 30 other organizations. Booz Allen serves as the contractor/program manager for the project and is assisting these cancer centers—including Sloan-Kettering and the Mayo Clinic—in implementing technologies that revolutionize research and strengthen collaboration and advances in the health arena.
"caBIG promises to reduce the gap between research and treatment," says Chalk Dawson, Booz Allen's principal on the project. Data sets and information will be available to anyone in biomedical research, and caBIG infrastructure and tools have wide utility beyond cancer. Clinical data and technology enable collaborative science, which is changing the paradigm of how clinical research is conducted—and Booz Allen is on the cutting edge of it.
caBIG is already extending to a wider community, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and pharmaceutical companies, further benefiting cancer patients and accelerating research to substantially reduce the suffering associated with the disease.
The effort—called the cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid, or caBIG—is a virtual infrastructure that connects data, research tools, standards, scientists, and organizations to form "a World Wide Web of research" that is accelerating all aspects of cancer prevention, detection, and care by reducing technical and collaborative barriers.
The caBIG project is creating a "pathway for a new model in biomedicine," said Kenneth Buetow, director of the NCI's Center for Bioinformatics. The project earned the 2006 Computerworld Honors 21st Century Achievement Award for Science. As noted in the Computerworld Honors Program Case Study: "caBIG has been supported by the NCI as a key enabler of its vision to eliminate suffering and death due to cancer."
Launched in 2003 as part of a multi-year National Institutes of Health contract with Booz Allen, caBIG was developed in collaboration with 50 NCI cancer centers and 30 other organizations. Booz Allen serves as the contractor/program manager for the project and is assisting these cancer centers—including Sloan-Kettering and the Mayo Clinic—in implementing technologies that revolutionize research and strengthen collaboration and advances in the health arena.
"caBIG promises to reduce the gap between research and treatment," says Chalk Dawson, Booz Allen's principal on the project. Data sets and information will be available to anyone in biomedical research, and caBIG infrastructure and tools have wide utility beyond cancer. Clinical data and technology enable collaborative science, which is changing the paradigm of how clinical research is conducted—and Booz Allen is on the cutting edge of it.
caBIG is already extending to a wider community, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and pharmaceutical companies, further benefiting cancer patients and accelerating research to substantially reduce the suffering associated with the disease.
