The Center for Stem Cell Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary collaboration driven by researchers at the
Harvard Stem Cell Institute, the
HMS Department of Biomedical Informatics, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the University of Sheffield.
In 2011, the HSCI recognized the increasing need for bioinformatics capacity to handle the vasts amounts of stem cell genomics data being generated at the Institute. A three-tiered strategy was developed:
- Create a Stem Cell Commons, an open source environment for sharing, processing and analyzing stem cell data that brings together stem cell data sets with tools for curation, dissemination and analysis
- Develop a Bioinformatics Core to provide consulting services and grant support
- Establish a targeted bioinformatics training program to develop expertise in the community
Since its establishment, the Center for Stem Cell Bioinformatics has provided dedicated support to over 80 HSCI affiliated laboratories on ~150 projects, trained over 200 HSCI researchers, and continues to develop its data sharing platform with over 300 data sets.