{"id":3966,"date":"2013-08-15T07:00:43","date_gmt":"2013-08-15T15:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.formtek.com\/blog\/?p=3966"},"modified":"2013-08-15T07:00:43","modified_gmt":"2013-08-15T15:00:43","slug":"big-data-nih-funds-the-use-of-big-data-in-biomedical-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/formtek.com\/blog\/big-data-nih-funds-the-use-of-big-data-in-biomedical-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Data: NIH Funds the Use of Big Data in Biomedical Research"},"content":{"rendered":"

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced funding<\/a> aimed at developing Big Data analytic techniques for use with biomedical data. \u00a0The funding will be $24 million<\/a> for each of the next four years and will be used to establish six to eight “Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K<\/a>)\u00a0Centers of Excellence”.<\/p>\n

Eric Green<\/a>, M.D., Ph.D., NIH acting associate director for data science and director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, said that “BD2K aims to enable a quantum leap in the ability of the biomedical research enterprise to maximize the value of the growing volume and complexity of biomedical data. \u00a0The Centers of Excellence will provide a key component of the overall initiative.”<\/p>\n

Francis S. Collins<\/a>, M.D., Ph.D and NIH Director, said that “this funding opportunity represents a concerted effort to leverage the power of NIH in developing cutting-edge systems to address data science challenges. \u00a0The goal is to help researchers translate data into knowledge that will advance discoveries and improve health, while reducing costs and redundancy.”<\/p>\n

NIH originally announced the Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) initiative<\/a> in December 2012. \u00a0The initiative is designed to support basic data science research. \u00a0The hope is that the effort will create and promote tools and skills that can be used to better understand and interpret biomedical data. \u00a0This is the first funding being made available for BD2K and more funding is expected to be allocated in the near future.<\/p>\n

Goals for the BD2K project include:<\/p>\n