The mission of the NCICB is two-fold:
- Provide foundational biomedical informatics infrastructure, tools and data to serve NCI research initiatives and the cancer research community; and
- Facilitate the integration of diverse research and data across the "bench to bedside continuum" through an interoperable infrastructure and collaborative leadership.
The NCICB coordinates and deploys informatics in support of NCI research initiatives. Our goal is to maximize interoperability and integration of NCI research and related information. NCICB informatics support includes platforms, services, tools, and data.
Participating in the evaluation and prioritization of the NCI's bioinformatics research portfolio, we:
- Conduct or facilitate research required to fulfill our mission;
- Serve as the locus for strategic planning to address the expanding
research initiative informatics needs of the NCI; and
- Establish information technology standards -- both within and outside of NCI.
- Communicate, coordinate, or establish information exchange standards.
We provide direct support to four NCI research programs:
- The Cancer Genome Anatomy Project (CGAP);
- The Mouse Models of Human Cancer Consortium (MMHCC);
- The Director's Challenge: Towards a Molecular Classification of
Cancer; and
- Clinical Trials.
We have three primary goals with the following objectives:
- Develop, Provide and Foster Biomedical Informatics Infrastructure
- Provide core informatics infrastructure to NCI-funded groups that undertake cancer research
- Make available a foundation of informatics infrastructure for use by the broader cancer and biomedical research communities (those not funded by NCI)
- Partner with other Federal Agencies and the private sector to leverage combined strengths and provide informatics infrastructure
- Develop and maintain NCICB as an institution that is capable of fostering biomedical informatics infrastructure
- Provide Tools, Applications and Data to Transform Cancer Research and Care
- Understand and prioritize cancer community needs for biomedical research tools, software applications, and data (particularly unmet needs that will help support the “bench-to-bedside” continuum)
- Develop and distribute advanced biomedical research tools, applications, and data, based on identified cancer community needs
- Engage in collaborations and partnerships (public and private) that foster effective and efficient use of informatics tools, applications, and data through integration, coordination, consensus and community building
- Offer high-quality customer support and training to individuals and institutions to facilitate effective and efficient use of NCICB-related infrastructure, tools, and data
- Develop and maintain NCICB as an organization that is capable of transforming cancer research and care
- Improve Patient Participation in Personalized Care
- Enable patients to be active participants and make informed choices among evidence-based approaches to prevention and care
- Promote the integration of patient-centric applications into biomedical informatics and national health information exchange activities
- Focus the cancer prevention and treatment community on approaches that are patient-centric
- Provide thought leadership to the bioinformatics and clinical informatics communities on the role of biomedical informatics in improving patient care
