Swedish Pathogens Portal part of a global network sharing infectious disease data
SciLifeLab Data Centre is part of a major international initiative to advance infectious disease data sharing. Funded by the NIH, the Pathogen Data Network (PDN) will build infrastructure, tools, and training to support FAIR data practices. The four-year project brings together 12 international partners and is coordinated by the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics.
SciLifeLab Data Centre is leading work related to creating a knowledge base together with EMBL-EBI. This knowledge base will enable access to multiple types of infectious disease data, particularly that related to pathogens recognised to be of highest concern. EMBL-EBI’s Pathogens Portal will comprise the central element of this new knowledge base. Data and information is intended to flow into this central element via multiple local pathogens portal nodes. The first of such nodes, the Swedish Pathogens Portal, was established by SciLifeLab Data Centre in 2023. The Swedish node has already served as a model for establishing other local nodes, and a key objective of the PDN is to support the development of additional local nodes.
“The Pathogen Data Network aims to become a global, diverse and inclusive hub for distributed resources that foster infectious-disease FAIR data management and processing. With a strong focus on support, capacity building and trustworthiness, everyone interested is welcome to join its Open Community Forum to actively engage and provide feedback to the resources that will be developed” says Aitana Neves, Associate Director of Clinical Bioinformatics at SIB.
As part of the PDN project, SciLifeLab Data Centre has developed openly available reference software to facilitate the rapid setup of new local nodes. Establishing new nodes is supported by seed funding provided through the PDN project. Due to these efforts, local nodes are now being established in multiple countries, including Kenya, Mexico, and Japan. SciLifeLab Data Centre is currently working with the PDN’s community of practice to develop a roadmap describing how the reference software will be expanded in the second year of the project.
“Open and FAIR sharing of data, and other research resources is crucial in accelerating research. In the case of infectious diseases, this can mean limiting the impact of outbreaks and pandemics. We are proud to be working to help establish nodes that will aid the flow of infectious disease data globally” says Liane Hughes, project leader of the Swedish Pathogens Portal.
The Pathogen Data Network is funded by the NIH NIAID BRC program (award number U24AI183840) and has four main objectives:
- Foster data discovery to enable a worldwide perspective on infectious diseases, through the integration and referencing of scattered data and resources into a single portal;
- Support efficient surveillance and outbreak response, through innovative computational approaches on pathogens of interest;
- Enable timely data sharing, through the development of private data sharing environments, as well as policies and ethical frameworks supporting benefit sharing approaches;
- Preparing the next generation workforce, through training and capacity building.
Please see the PDN website to keep up to date with the latest from this project.
