Guide for Executive and Legislative Transition Teams
Welcome to the National Cancer Institute’s Center for Biomedical Informatics and Information Technology.
This website (cabig.cancer.gov) provides information about caBIG®, its mission, and its role in connecting the cancer community.
At a time of critical change and unprecedented opportunity in life sciences and healthcare, caBIG® has the potential to become a platform for 21st century biomedicine.
Healthcare is in transition to a 21st century model
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U.S. healthcare delivery and research (“biomedicine”) faces a crisis in the next decade comparable to that currently being experienced in the financial sector.
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21st century biomedicine will connect individuals, organizations,
institutions and their concomitant information in a cycle of discovery, development and clinical care (i.e., a “rapid learning system”), transforming the sector
into a model that is personalized, preventive, pre-emptive, and patient-participatory.
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This new model of biomedicine is predicated on the deployment of modern information technology synergistically
blending research and care.
Today’s research becomes tomorrow’s care: that is, cutting edge technology and applications are cost-effectively explored
in a research setting for future deployment in a care setting.
caBIG®: a pioneering effort building a 21st century platform for biomedicine
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Over the past 5 years, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has prototyped
caBIG®
(“ca” for cancer and “BIG” for the Biomedical Informatics Grid) within the cancer community. caBIG® has created a 21st century electronic infrastructure to
link the entire cancer community.
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BIG uses current internet and web services technology and deploys existing information standards. It flexibly connects local data and applications
with software, data, and infrastructure services offered through the internet “cloud”.
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caBIG® and American Society of Clinical Oncology
have partnered to develop and deploy Electronic Health Records (EHRs) to small practices within the cancer community.
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caBIG® has mastered the administrative and management processes necessary to execute complex development
and deployment projects through the government.
Immediate Opportunities to Leverage caBIG®
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Use “BIG” as a national biomedical IT platform. caBIG® technology has been demonstrated to connect Electronic Health Records
and research infrastructure, enabling integration of molecular information and clinical decisions based on genetic types.
Potential benefits: clinical outcomes lead to faster discoveries, and discoveries advance rapidly to the bedside; cost-savings
accrue from pre-emptive interventions and avoidance of inappropriate/unnecessary medication.
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Use caBIG® for other diseases. caBIG® technology and capabilities are applicable to almost any therapeutic area and to any organization -- public or private,
academic or commercial. Potential benefits: Avoid re-inventing information technology for other diseases and other NIH institutes; enable commercial companies to
build on the government-laid foundation.
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Use caBIG® to drive U.S. biomedical leadership. caBIG® technology is already being adopted in the UK, China, India and elsewhere,
enabling global biomedical research collaborations. Potential benefits: accelerated discoveries; avoidance of duplicative investment; commercial development
of U.S. biomedical advances.
For further information about caBIG®, please visit:
To receive a caBIG® background kit or to talk to caBIG® leadership, please send inquiries to BIGquestions@cancer.gov.
For technical information about caBIG® tools, infrastructure and how to get connected or get support, please visit https://cabig.nci.nih.gov.
