ArticlePloS one2021
The journey to establishing an IT-infrastructure within the German Biobank Alliance.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- A Hybrid Architecture (CO-CONNECT) to Facilitate Rapid Discovery and Access to Data Across the United Kingdom in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Development Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Pooled it
- Development of a big data platform for collecting and utilizing clinical information from the Korea Biobank Network.BMC medical informatics and decision making · 2025Article
- The Information Technology (IT) Infrastructure of the Multicenter Archipelago of Ovarian Cancer Research Biobank: A Potential Blueprint for Other Biobanks.Biopreservation and biobanking · 2024Article
- Bridging Data Models in Health Care With a Novel Intermediate Query Format for Feasibility Queries: Mixed Methods Study.JMIR medical informatics · 2024Article
- Streamlining intersectoral provision of real-world health data: a service platform for improved clinical research and patient care.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Article
- The Architecture of a Feasibility Query Portal for Distributed COVID-19 Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) Patient Data Repositories: Design and Implementation Study.JMIR medical informatics · 2022Article
- Generation of a Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR)-based Ontology for Federated Feasibility Queries in the Context of COVID-19: Feasibility Study.JMIR medical informatics · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundBiobanks ensure the long-term storage and accessibility of biospecimens and corresponding data sets. Thus, they form the foundation for many research projects which may contribute to improving medical care. With the establishment of the German Biobank Node and Alliance, expertise in biobanking is bundled and strengthened. An important component within this research infrastructure is the set-up of an information technology (IT) network for allowing feasibility requests across individual biobanks.
objectiveWe aim to describe relevant aspects that have shaped the journey to interconnect biobanks, to enhance their visibility within the research-community, to harmonize data, and to enable feasibility searches to support access to available data and biosamples.
methodsTo achieve this task, we resorted to a wide variety of methods: we ran a requirement analysis, decided on the mode of operation for the federated team of IT-developers and on the development approach itself, took related national and international initiatives into account, and concluded with evaluations of the developed software artefacts and the operation of the entire chain of applications.
resultsWe drew an IT framework including all heterogeneous data aspects derived from our requirement analysis and developed a comprehensive IT infrastructure. The successful implementation benefited from a smooth interaction of a federated IT team distributed across all participating sites that was even able to manage a major technology change mid-project. Authentication and project management services from associated partners could be integrated and the graphic user interface for an intuitive search tool for biospecimens was designed iteratively. The developed code is open source to ensure sustainability and the local implementation is concluded and functioning. The evaluation of the components was positive.
conclusionsThe entire project had given ample opportunity for challenges, predictable and unpredictable-from the mode of operation to changing some of the initial ideas. We learned our lessons concerning personnel, budget planning and technical as well as manual monitoring as well as some requirements arising only during the process of the project. Nevertheless, we can here report a success story of a network infrastructure, highly agile and much easier in local installation than initially anticipated.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.