Clearinghouse will facilitate dissemination of neuroimaging informatics tools and resources
Washington, DC, October 5, 2006: TCG, a leading government technology strategy and IT company, announced today that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded the company a contract to build the Neuroimaging Informatics Tools and Resources Clearinghouse (NITRC). NITRC is one initiative under the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research.
Under the five-year, $3.8 million contract, TCG will build and operate a Web-based clearinghouse to facilitate the dissemination and use of existing neuroimaging informatics tools and resources that will:
- Provide neuroimaging informatics tools and resources and information about them to the neuroimaging research community at large; and,
- Provide ongoing opportunities for public comment regarding particular neuroimaging informatics tools and resources in order to guide their development and enhance their use by the neuroimaging research community at large.
“The NITRC will assist neuroimaging professionals and researchers worldwide to access and improve the tools and resources that are central to this keystone of contemporary medical science,” said David G. Cassidy, Vice President of TCG. “TCG is delighted to expand our relationship with the NIH, and look forward to a close working relationship with the agency and the neuroimaging community at large.”
The work will be performed by TCG’s Washington, DC, office in collaboration with the National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research (NCMIR) of the University of California, San Diego, David N. Kennedy Consulting of Belmont, MA, and Neuromorphometrics of Somerville, MA.
About TCG
TCG (Turner Consulting Group, https://stage.tcg.com), a Washington, DC-based company, is a business process and IT advisory services company with a focus on grants management, bioinformatics, and CMMI mentoring and software engineering best practices.
TCG focuses on helping government agencies use the power of the Internet and the Web to better interact with the public, and to generate internal cost savings and efficiencies. TCG projects have won awards for their groundbreaking achievements, including piloting the first inter-agency grants management system, and creating the first inter-agency government system to receive secure information from the general public.
TCG was one of the fastest-growing privately-held companies in the United States in 2001, as ranked by Inc. magazine, and has been on Washington Technology’s Fast 50. The company was SEI-assessed at Capability Maturity Model Integration Maturity Level 2 in April 2004 and is one of about 701 companies worldwide to have achieved such recognition of process excellence.
For more information, contact David G. Cassidy on 202–742-8471 or david.cassidy@tcg.com, or see https://stage.tcg.com.
About the National Institutes of Health
NIH is the steward of medical and behavioral research for the Nation. Its mission is science in pursuit of fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to extend healthy life and reduce the burdens of illness and disability.
The goals of the agency are to:
- foster fundamental creative discoveries, innovative research strategies, and their applications as a basis to advance significantly the Nation’s capacity to protect and improve health;
- develop, maintain, and renew scientific human and physical resources that will assure the Nation’s capability to prevent disease;
- expand the knowledge base in medical and associated sciences in order to enhance the Nation’s economic well-being and ensure a continued high return on the public investment in research; and
- exemplify and promote the highest level of scientific integrity, public accountability, and social responsibility in the conduct of science.
In realizing these goals, the NIH provides leadership and direction to programs designed to improve the health of the Nation by conducting and supporting research:
- in the causes, diagnosis, prevention, and cure of human diseases;
- in the processes of human growth and development;
- in the biological effects of environmental contaminants;
- in the understanding of mental, addictive and physical disorders; and
- in directing programs for the collection, dissemination, and exchange of information in medicine and health, including the development and support of medical libraries and the training of medical librarians and other health information specialists.
About the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research
The NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research aims to develop new tools, resources, and training opportunities to accelerate the pace of discovery in neuroscience research.
Initiated in 2004, the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research is designed to enhance collaboration among the NIH Office of the Director and 15 NIH institutes and centers (ICs) that support research on the nervous system. By pooling resources and expertise and less than one percent of the NIH investment in neuroscience research, the Blueprint confronts challenges that transcend any single institute or center and serves the entire neuroscience community. As a result, best practices developed at a single IC are implemented more widely; planning is coordinated; resources established by one IC are opened to all, and NIH working groups focus on cross-cutting scientific issues.
The first Blueprint initiatives, released in FY2005, include an inventory and analysis of neuroscience tools funded by the Federal government; enhanced training in the neurobiology of disease for basic neuroscientists, and expanded genome analysis and neuroimaging programs. In FY2006 Blueprint initiatives will include additional training programs, genetic mouse models, neuroimaging tools, core research facilities, and tools to enhance the value of clinical research conducted by each participating institute. For 2007, the priority will be neurodegeneration; for 2008, neurodevelopment, and for 2009, neuroplasticity.
For more information about the NIH Blueprint, see http://neuroscienceblueprint.nih.gov/.