Director's Note
Just over five years ago, at the time that our caBIG® journey began, there were no national scale bioinformatics initiatives, in the public or private sector. There were no common mechanisms for individual researchers—much less institutions—to easily share data, and there was no unifying infrastructure or even a common vocabulary for cancer researchers. Despite the absence of a comparable endeavor on which to model our efforts, we shaped the vision of a virtual network of interconnected data, individuals, and organizations whose goal is to redefine how research is conducted, care is provided, and patients/participants interact with the biomedical research enterprise.
Today, caBIG® itself has emerged as the world's largest biomedical superhighway, and serves as a model of community, connectivity, and collaboration within and beyond cancer. Our ultimate purpose, of course, is tied to the goal of improving cancer prevention, treatment, and care. As I reflect upon where the program started and where it is headed, I am very gratified to be at a point where we are beginning to directly touch the lives of people with cancer as well as healthy individuals who are eager to participate in research that may lessen the burden of disease for others.
In this issue of LINKS, we explore the launch of an exciting new partnership with the Love/Avon Army of Women and describe how caBIG® infrastructure and tools are enabling a novel approach that brings consumers to the forefront of the 21st century biomedical paradigm.
I invite you to visit the websites www.armyofwomen.org and http://cabig.cancer.gov to learn about this project and, more importantly, to take an active role in the historic milestones that lie before us.
Sincerely,
Ken Buetow
Director, NCI Center for Biomedical Informatics and Information Technology
August 3, 2009
