title: Building a virtual cancer research organization.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The Cancer Research Network (CRN) comprises the National Cancer Institute and 11 nonprofit research centers affiliated with integrated health care delivery systems. The CRN, a public/private partnership, fosters multisite collaborative research on cancer prevention, screening, treatment, survival, and palliation in diverse populations.
  
  
  METHODS
  The CRN's success hinges on producing innovative cancer research that likely would not have been developed by scientists working individually, and then translating those findings into clinical practice within multiple population laboratories. The CRN is a collaborative virtual research organization characterized by user-defined sharing among scientists and health care providers of data files as well as direct access to researchers, computers, software, data, research participants, and other resources. The CRN's research management Web site fosters a high-functioning virtual scientific community by publishing standardized data definitions, file specifications, and computer programs to support merging and analyzing data from multiple health care systems.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seven major types of standardized data files developed to date include demographics, health plan eligibility, tumor registry, inpatient and ambulatory utilization, medication dispensing, laboratory tests, and imaging procedures; more will follow. Data standardization avoids rework, increases multisite data integrity, increases data security, generates shorter times from initial proposal concept to submission, and stimulates more frequent collaborations among scientists across multiple institutions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The CRN research management Web site and associated standardized data files and procedures represent a quasi-public resource, and the CRN stands ready to collaborate with researchers from outside institutions in developing and conducting innovative public domain research.
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Research, Northwest/Hawaii, Kaiser Permanente Northwest, Portland, OR 97227, USA. mark.c.hornbrook@kpch.org
authors.forename: Mark C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Hornbrook
authors.forename: Gene
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hart
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Ellis
authors.forename: Donald J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Bachman
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ansell
authors.forename: Sarah M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Greene
authors.forename: Edward H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.forename: Roy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pardee
authors.forename: Mark M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Geiger
authors.forename: Amy L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Butani
authors.forename: Terry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Field
authors.forename: Hassan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fouayzi
authors.forename: Irina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Miroshnik
authors.forename: Liyan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Diseker
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wells
authors.forename: Rick
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Krajenta
authors.forename: Lois
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lamerato
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Neslund Dudas
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research; D003195:Computer Communication Networks / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D008490:Medical Informatics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008495:Medical Oncology; D009316:National Institutes of Health (U.S.); D009369:Neoplasms; D012042:Registries; D014481:United States