The TB Portals Program, a multi-national collaboration to advance TB research through data sharing and analysis

Authors

• A Rosenthal
• A Gabrielian
• K Wollenberg
• E Engle
• M Harris
• J Taaffe
• D Hurt
• M Tartakovsky

Abstract

​Collaborations that combine IT solutions with basic, clinical, and applied science can enable multidisciplinary data sharing and analysis that leads to novel insight about TB. The NIAID TB Portals Program is a multi-national collaboration to advance TB research through data sharing and analysis. The TB Portals (TBP) is an online, open-access platform through which integrated, multi-domain, and patient-centric TB data can be visualized and analyzed. Participating institutions share de-identified and standardized TB patient data, including, clinical, imaging, and genomic information into the TBP. These data and their linked samples support research activities, which ultimately feed data back into the TBP database and inform development of its analytical tools. 1157 TB cases are published in the TBP from 7 countries (Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, and South Africa); 75% of them are multi- or extensively drug resistant. 421 genomes are linked to their respective patient cases, with information on drug-resistance mutations and lineage. 52 attributes are used to annotate 1299 X-rays and 963 CT scans. Three analytical tools have been developed to enable meta-domain, genomic, and image data exploration and analysis. The TBP Program drives knowledge discovery and translation through its synergistic and interlinked components: multi-domain TB data, advanced analytical tools, and scientific collaborations. An open-access platform supports this ecosystem, which makes its unique data and powerful tools available to the research and clinical communities. Knowledge generated through the Program can be applied for greater clinical and public health impact.

Scientific Focus Area: Microbiology and Infectious Diseases

This page was last updated on Friday, March 26, 2021