Sep 19, 2016. As the amount of biomedical research data that is generated is increasing exponentially, managing and storing the research data is increasingly becoming a bottleneck in biomedical research. Following an EU-wide purchasing procedure, KI has purchased one of the largest computing clusters in Sweden dedicated to research on big biomedical data (2 Petabytes of storage capacity, 24 computer nodes, 674 CPU cores and 6 terabytes of operating memory). As the Center is based on the Open Source Apache Hadoop and Spark frameworks, it is a scalable solution that can be cost-effectively adapted to changing demands in the biomedical field.

“Systematic “omics” analyses are part of our excellence project in biomarker research, funded by the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF). The project is systematically investigating the usefulness of high-throughput “omics” analyses to identify biomarkers useful for cervical cancer screening.

“This investment will greatly improve our ability to manage and store the immense amounts of data generated”, says Joakim Dillner, professor of infectious disease epidemiology and principal investigator of the SSF grant.

“We are also coordinating a Nordic Center of Excellence in health-related eSciences (www.nordicehealth.se ) funded by NordForsk. The Biomedical Computing Center will enable additional Nordic collaborations in eHealth and research on Big Biomedical Data”, says Davit Bzhalava, Head Bioinformatician of the group.

For further information, please contact joakim.dillner@ki.se (0768871126).

Picture: Davit Bzhalava by the super computer.

Read the press release at the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research

http://stratresearch.se/biomedicinsk-superdator-forstarker-ssf-projekt/.

 

Participating in the cervical cancer screening in Sweden is higher than ever before: in 2015 82 % of the female population aged 23-60 years participated in the cell sampling program as recommended. Among women 23-25 years as much as 92% participated, which is a uniquely high figure. The high rate of participation indicates a high confidence in the screening program. In many counties the participation is increasing, only in a few of them a decline is observed. In most counties, more than 97% of the population received their summons on time. Only two counties convene fewer than 90% of the resident women.

Today, the National Quality Registry for Cervical Cancer Prevention (NKCx) publishes the Annual Report on cervical cancer screening in Sweden for 2015. NKCx analyzes data on cell samples, tissue samples, HPV-tests and invitation statuses from all over the country and publishes the most significant indicators of the program quality and results.

Read the report here.

 

The World Cancer Report 2014 is published by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and distributed by WHO Press, World Health Organization.

The 2014 edition represents an update of the state of knowledge on cancer statistics, causes and mechanisms and on how this knowledge can be applied for cancer prevention and control among scientists, public health workers and governments.

 

Find the report here.

2nd annual report of the Nordic Information For Aaction eScience Center of Excellence (NIASC) is now available online.

Nordic Information for Action e-Science Center (NIASC) held its third annual meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark on the 12th of January 2016. This event was featured in NordForsk web page.