29.03.2015 Views

in vivo

in vivo

in vivo

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

Research Unit for<br />

Immuno<strong>in</strong>formatics<br />

An important mission of our research<br />

unit is to develop and ma<strong>in</strong>ta<strong>in</strong> an open<br />

resource bio<strong>in</strong>formatics platform and data<br />

resources <strong>in</strong> order to ga<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>sights <strong>in</strong>to primary<br />

immunodeficiency diseases (PID) through<br />

the accumulation and analysis of genomic,<br />

transcriptomic, and proteomic data. Our<br />

ultimate goal is to provide relevant, up-to-date<br />

and validated <strong>in</strong>formation on PID as per global<br />

community standards <strong>in</strong> an easily decipherable<br />

and usable format.<br />

Unit leader<br />

Sujatha Mohan<br />

Research Associates<br />

: Shivakumar Keerthikumar<br />

Rajesh Raju<br />

Generation of Primary Immunodeficiency<br />

Disease Database from Asia<br />

Primary immunodeficiency diseases are<br />

rare and genetically heterogeneous group of<br />

disorders affect<strong>in</strong>g various components of the<br />

<strong>in</strong>nate and adaptive immune systems. Despite<br />

rapid developments <strong>in</strong> the science of PID, early<br />

diagnosis and effective treatment of PID have<br />

posed new challenges to physicians all over the<br />

world. In this milieu, the development of a freely<br />

accessible dynamic web-based <strong>in</strong>tegrated tool<br />

on PID has become a paramount need of different<br />

target groups such as cl<strong>in</strong>ical immunologists,<br />

researchers, patients and family members.<br />

We hope that this <strong>in</strong>itiative will assist<br />

cl<strong>in</strong>ical immunologists and physicians <strong>in</strong> the<br />

identification of susceptible populations followed<br />

by cost effective regular screen<strong>in</strong>g procedures<br />

<strong>in</strong> order to m<strong>in</strong>imize cl<strong>in</strong>ical deterioration and<br />

provide researchers with essential clues to<br />

analyze candidate PID genes. We also hope to<br />

create awareness among PID patients to help<br />

them lead a near normal quality of life and to<br />

support affected family members with relevant<br />

PID <strong>in</strong>formation.<br />

The strength of this project is that it makes<br />

access to biological <strong>in</strong>formation simple for<br />

those without any bio<strong>in</strong>formatics knowledge<br />

and <strong>in</strong>tegrates it with experimental data from a<br />

diverse set of biological platforms <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g FACS<br />

and DNA genotyp<strong>in</strong>g to cl<strong>in</strong>ical phenotypes and<br />

signal<strong>in</strong>g pathways. Our first focus is on the<br />

analysis of primary immunodeficiency diseases<br />

because RCAI <strong>in</strong>vestigators have been work<strong>in</strong>g<br />

<strong>in</strong>tensively on PID <strong>in</strong> collaboration with outside<br />

researchers and have accumulated a wide array<br />

of cl<strong>in</strong>ical and experimental data..<br />

To achieve our goals, we propose to carry<br />

out strategic approaches such as: i) curation<br />

of PID literature <strong>in</strong>formation along with publicly<br />

available cl<strong>in</strong>ical <strong>in</strong>formation <strong>in</strong>to a web accessible<br />

knowledge base, ii) development of PID<br />

82

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!