CUNY and Genestack collaborate to enhance BioConductor data curation
Technological partnerships
The expansion features Cytiva’s Xcellerex XDR Bioreactor single-use system. Silke Fetzer-Rümpler, Senior Vice President, Commercial at Cytiva, noted the system’s scalability and potential to accelerate clinical and commercial milestones.
Christof Klöpper, CEO of Basel Area Business & Innovation, welcomed the investment, noting its contribution to Switzerland’s position as a leader in biotechnology and innovation. The expansion is expected to create additional highly skilled jobs in the Basel area and bolster the local biotechnology ecosystem.
The City University of New York (CUNY) and Genestack Ltd have announced a partnership to improve data curation for the BioConductor programme, aiming to streamline genomic data management for researchers.
BioConductor, an open-source software project widely used in biomedical research, provides essential tools for analysing highthroughput genomic data. However, the curation and management of such data have long been challenging for researchers. This collaboration seeks to mitigate these issues by integrating Genestack’s advanced data management platform with BioConductor’s existing framework.
Enhancing metadata quality for AI/ML readiness
The project, spearheaded by CUNY, focuses on improving the AI and machine learning readiness of publicly accessible omics data, with a particular emphasis on metadata quality. The initiative involves collaboration with multiple institutions, including the University of Colorado, the University of Trento, and Northeastern University.
Sehyun Oh, Assistant Professor at CUNY, explained the choice of Genestack’s Omics Data Manager (ODM) as their primary metadata curation tool, citing its intuitive schema definition, seamless ontology integration, and responsive customer support.
Empowering global curators with advanced tools
The partnership aims to provide curators at five prestigious global universities with direct access to Genestack’s data management tools. This integration is expected to streamline the curation process, reduce manual data transfer, and minimise potential errors.
Leo Whyte, Head of Customer Growth at Genestack, highlighted the potential impact of this collaboration on AI model quality and the education of future scientists in data curation practices.
Improving data quality and reproducibility
A key benefit of this partnership is the expected improvement in data quality and reproducibility. Genestack’s platform offers features to ensure data consistency and integrity, potentially leading to more accurate analysis and interpretation of results in biomedical research.
The streamlined data curation process is anticipated to facilitate easier sharing of curated datasets among researchers, potentially accelerating scientific discovery and innovation in the field.
This collaboration represents a significant step towards enhancing the usability and effectiveness of the BioConductor programme, with both CUNY and Genestack committed to supporting the BioConductor community through improved data management and curation solutions.
For more information, visit: www.bioconductor.org
