Funding awarded to develop a global Pathogen Data Network

The Pathogen Data Network is a new global consortium aiming to provide infrastructure, tools, training and support for making infectious disease Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR). It will cover diverse biodata types, including host and pathogen genomics, transcriptomics, proteins, pathways and networks, imaging and cohorts. The collaboration spans 12 research institutes, including the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB) and EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI). 

Better response to outbreaks and pandemics

The initiative builds upon and extends the successful European COVID-19 Data Platform, set up by EMBL-EBI and partners during the COVID-19 pandemic. The new Pathogen Data Network will cover data from highly relevant species that are pathogenic to humans along with data sets from vectors and hosts. 

By providing researchers and health authorities with pathogen data notably from environmental sources, PDN aims to improve pandemic response and general outbreak surveillance on a global scale. 

“Open data sharing was crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic response because it enabled scientists worldwide to work together to understand the virus and monitor its spread,” explained Guy Cochrane, Team Leader at EMBL-EBI. “This new project is an opportunity to apply the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic to set up a global network of data access points and expertise so we are better prepared to respond to future disease outbreaks and pandemics. Crucially, this goes beyond data sharing, and supports the development of infrastructure, data analysis tools, training and a wider collaborative ecosystem for infectious disease research.”

Reinforcing local data management and global data sharing

The project is one of three initiatives funded under the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIH-NIAID*) Bioinformatics Resource Program. 

In particular, the Pathogen Data Network involves providing software that enables countries or regions to establish local data portals. The Pathogens Portal hosted at EMBL-EBI will serve as a comprehensive central interface, offering access to pathogen and cohort data, images, dashboards, and more, enhancing global data sharing and communication. 

The Data Portal services will span all pathogens determined to be of interest to NIAID, gradually also capturing host, intermediate host and vector species of relevance to the listed pathogen species and groups. With strong community engagement and components emphasising the need for capacity building, local data governance and alignment with international policy, the Pathogen Data Network will foster an integrative and participative approach to pathogen data sharing.

Get involved 

The Pathogen Network Community has set up a forum which is open to anyone willing to contribute to the project. The forum will ensure community-driven developments that meet existing needs and have real impact. It will also help to identify gaps, propose new ideas of features and prioritise developments to be implemented.

Ultimately, the forum aims to facilitate widest use of pathogen biodata for research, management, and learning, by enhancing the utility of open pathogen biodata to our stakeholders. Join the Pathogen Network Community Forum today. 

Pathogen Data Network consortium

The project is coordinated by the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics together with: 

• EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) – UK
• The Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) – USA
• The Leibniz Institute (DSMZ) – Germany
• The Georgetown University in Washington DC – USA
• The Uppsala University – Sweden
• The South African National Bioinformatics Institute (SANBI) – South Africa
• The National Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII) – Spain
• The Arctic University of Norway (UiT) – Norway
• The Eötvös Loránd University – Hungary
• The Technical University of Denmark (DTU) – Denmark
• The Erasmus University Medical Center (EMC) – Netherlands

Funding

This project is supported by the National Institute Of Allergy And Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number U24AI183840. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

The original version of this press release was published on the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics website.