The Problem

The NIAID CEIRS program is an integrated network of national and international centers designed to bring together multidisciplinary teams of researchers that perform research on host immune response, viral pathogenesis, and the factors that control the evolution, emergence and transmission of influenza viruses. The CEIRS network is composed of 50+ research institutions in 22 countries. The network’s vastness and geographical distribution challenged CEIRS’ mission to enable seamless sharing and public dissemination of high-quality datasets to help advance scientific discovery related to influenza.

The Solution

DIFZ developed and drove the adoption of CEIRS-wide data standards and produced a data processing and collaboration center (DPCC).

Our multidisciplinary approach took into account both the scientific research needs of the CEIRS network and the technical requirements of the DPCC solution.

Our interdisciplinary team leveraged our scientific understanding of the subject matter combined with our technical excellence to deliver a set of data management tools using modern technical frameworks:

  • Management approach guided by Agile (Scrum) and Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) industry-standard best practices.
  • A solution fully hosted on the AWS Cloud.
  • A multi-service and multi-application ecosystem based on loosely coupled principles that translate into modular, fault-tolerant systems.
  • Designed for reuse and to leverage common modules of functionality via RESTful web services delivered in the form of dedicated APIs and microservices.
  • Designed to leverage a full set of database technologies, both relational and NoSQL.

The Benefits

This modern, flexible, and Cloud-hosted data management solution measurably increased the volume, quality, and reusability of the massive quantity of scientific data the CEIRS network generates.

The CEIRS DPCC:

  • Increases the participation of CEIRS in data sharing with the scientific community.
  • Increases the accessibility and usefulness of CEIRS data.
  • Provides a flexible and reusable service-based platform for advanced data processing and management informatics.
  • Serves as an integrated resource for training, support, education, and collaboration.
  • Is a privileged destination for the general public to learn about influenza research conducted at CEIRS Centers.
  • Contributed more than 1.8 million records of animal and human surveillance for influenza virus worldwide to the BRC’s Influenza Research Database.
  • Contributed more than 18,000 novel influenza virus sequences to the NCBI GenBank.
  • Contributed more than 35,000 unique viral isolates to the BRC’s Influenza Research Database.