Building a Data Coordination Platform for the Human Cell Atlas
Apr 28, 2020
Researchers need a way to explore the many datasets that scientists around the world are collecting as part of the global Human Cell Atlas project. The Human Cell Atlas Data Coordination Platform is an open source, cloud-based platform that organizes, standardizes, and compiles accessible data from the Atlas. Having these datasets available in one place in a unified format allows researchers to quickly extract important information about various cells and tissues that could lead to new treatments and cures for diseases.
This project requires collaboration between bioinformatics and genomics experts in academia, as well as the software expertise of CZI engineers. We are working alongside international leaders in scientific data infrastructure to formulate, fund, and jointly build this platform to enable data sharing across researchers and research institutes.
Collaborations are underway with the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), the Broad Institute, and University of California, Santa Cruz. Partnership with EMBL-EBI will ensure all data standards meet the exacting international criteria for data access and data sharing — such as permanent maintenance of data through EBI and deposition of all data into the European Nucleotide Archive or the European Genome-Phenome Archive, as appropriate.
