The National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) is a UK-wide partnership between the government, charity, and industry which promotes co-operation in cancer research among the 21 member organizations for the benefit of patients, the public and the scientific community.

NCRI's Informatics Initiative works to implement the technological and community cultural advances required to achieve the Institute's objectives and to liaise with the cancer research community to ensure that data generated across different organizations can be integrated.

The NCI and NCRI have a long-standing collaboration to leverage the best applications and technologies developed by each organization. Specifically, the NCRI is leveraging caGrid technology for its applications while the caBIG^® program is planning to adopt the NCRI Oncology Information Exchange (ONIX) portal, providing a Web-accessible entry point to the combined resources of the NCRI and the caBIG^® program for the mutual benefit of cancer researchers working in the U.S. and the U.K.

Since 2007, the NCI and the NCRI have held a yearly joint conference to explore ways to speed scientific discovery. At this annual meeting, hundreds of technologists and researchers learn about global grid initiatives and tools that facilitate data sharing across national borders and discuss opportunities to power future collaboration.

Additional Resources

• For details on the 2009 event, look here.
• For details on the 2008 event, look here.
• To read more about how the NCI/NCRI partnership is supporting international collaborations, click here.
• Information on other events, including the next joint NCI/NCRI conference can be found here.