Shared Pathology Informatics Network (SPIN)

The The Shared Pathology Information Network is a research initiative of the Resources Development Branch of the Cancer Diagnosis Program of the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

The objective of this initiative is to use state-of-the-art informatics techniques to establish an Internet-based virtual database that will allow investigators to locate appropriate human tissue specimens for their research. The SPIN software will allow approved researchers access to data that describe archived tissue specimens across multiple institutions while still allowing those institutions to maintain local control of the data. The need for this capability has been fueled by the growing use of tissues, diagnostic specimens, and their related clinical data in modern biomedical research.

The following description is paraphrased from the Shared Pathology Informatics Network RFA document:

Pathology laboratories contain a wealth of specimen-related data. While this valuable research information is stored electronically, most institutions limit the ability for unlimited searches of electronic patient data to a small number of individuals. Internet technology provides new opportunities for accessing information related to tissue specimens.

The SPIN solution: In the proposed SPIN network, software supplied by the SPIN initiative can be run at participating institutions. This software, when loaded appropriately with anonymized data about pathology specimens, will respond to researcher-initiated queries with a listing of specimens and related data that meet the query criteria. Including multiple institutions allows access to many more cases than are presently available in any single tissue resource. SPIN will accomplish this in a HIPAA-compliant manner.

1. The Harvard/UCLA consortium CHIRPS Grant Proposal (pdf) and CHIRPS Home Page
   
2. The Indiana University/University of Pittsburgh consortium SPIN grant proposal: Indianapolis Pathology Informatics Network (pdf)

Note: Both projects listed above are scientific research projects funded through the NIH cooperative agreement grant mechanism. As with all scientific investigation, the research design and methods proposed may change as the research evolves. The technical sections of the grants are provided for informational purposes only, and not as exact statements of plans or products.

Last Updated: December 23, 2004