The Wisconsin National Primate Research Center (WPRC) is one of eight national primate research centers supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). More than 250 WPRC scientists conduct research in primate biology with relevance to human and animal health. The WPRC conducts extensive research related to the study of aging, and for these studies tracks large numbers of research specimens, including primates, canines and humans. Many of these studies require the ongoing collection of biomarker data points such as bone thickness and cholesterol. These biomarkers are stored in a central database for analysis by researchers.
To improve the capability of WPRC researchers to easily collect and analyze high-quality biomarker data related to aging, the NIH funded the development of a custom database application known as the Primate Aging Database (PAD) that allows the WPRC to collect and analyze this data. By treating this application as a shared resource, the WPRC is able to offer a higher level of functionality to its researchers than they could otherwise create on their individual projects.
PAD was originally developed for use within the WPRC. Its functionality quickly proved so useful that the application was extended to also serve the same purpose for the other NIH-funded primate research centers, as well as international research sites. Since the application’s current usage went far beyond what was originally envisioned, it became apparent to both the NIH and WPRC that the application was ready for a second major release that involved reengineering the application’s underlying architecture and enhancing the application’s functionality.
In an NIH funded-project, NORC collaborated with the WPRC to develop the second major release of PAD, known as the Internet Primate Aging Database, or iPAD. This teaming arrangement blended two very strong sets of organizational capabilities:
WPRC provided deep substantive knowledge of the research domain, as well as the invaluable experience of building and supporting the current version of PAD.
NORC provided its experience in building secure and robust web-based solutions that facilitate the capture and dissemination of research data. In addition, NORC provided a set of supporting systems integration capabilities, such as experience with software engineering methodologies, a business analysis/quality assurance team and a computing infrastructure to support this development effort
After working with the WPRC to determine requirements, NORC developed a web-based application using open-source Java technologies and the Oracle database platform. This technical architecture takes into consideration the application’s current and envisioned future requirements, as well the WPRC’s long-term information technology strategy. NORC developed this application using requirements gathering and technical design techniques from the Rational Unified Process (RUP) methodology.
The WPRC has since released the application to a nationwide network of primate research centers who are now actively contributing data to the system. The iPAD application is available online at http://ipad.primate.wisc.edu