title: SchizConnect: Mediating neuroimaging databases on schizophrenia and related disorders for large-scale integration.
abstract: SchizConnect (www.schizconnect.org) is built to address the issues of multiple data repositories in schizophrenia neuroimaging studies. It includes a level of mediation--translating across data sources--so that the user can place one query, e.g. for diffusion images from male individuals with schizophrenia, and find out from across participating data sources how many datasets there are, as well as downloading the imaging and related data. The current version handles the Data Usage Agreements across different studies, as well as interpreting database-specific terminologies into a common framework. New data repositories can also be mediated to bring immediate access to existing datasets. Compared with centralized, upload data sharing models, SchizConnect is a unique, virtual database with a focus on schizophrenia and related disorders that can mediate live data as information is being updated at each data source. It is our hope that SchizConnect can facilitate testing new hypotheses through aggregated datasets, promoting discovery related to the mechanisms underlying schizophrenic dysfunction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA; Department of Radiology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA. Electronic address: leiwang1@northwestern.edu.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Kathryn I
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Alpert
authors.affiliation: The Mind Research Network, Albuquerque, NM, USA; University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM, USA; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA; Department of Psychiatry, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA; Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Vince D
authors.initials: VD
authors.lastname: Calhoun
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Derin J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Cobia
authors.affiliation: Brain Imaging Center, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA.
authors.forename: David B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Keator
authors.affiliation: The Mind Research Network, Albuquerque, NM, USA.
authors.forename: Margaret D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: King
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Alexandr
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kogan
authors.affiliation: The Mind Research Network, Albuquerque, NM, USA.
authors.forename: Drew
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Landis
authors.affiliation: Information Sciences Institute, University of Southern California, Marina del Rey, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Marcelo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tallis
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer Science, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA; Neuroscience Institute, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.affiliation: Brain Imaging Center, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA; Department of Psychiatry & Human Behavior, University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine, Irvine, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Steven G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Potkin
authors.affiliation: The Mind Research Network, Albuquerque, NM, USA; Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA; Neuroscience Institute, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
authors.forename: Jessica A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.affiliation: Information Sciences Institute, University of Southern California, Marina del Rey, CA, USA; Digital Government Research Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Computer Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Jose Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Ambite
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D003628:Database Management Systems; D016208:Databases, Factual; D066264:Datasets as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination / Q000379:methods*; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D059906:Neuroimaging; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000473:pathology*; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Data mediation and integration; Mega analysis; Neuroinformatics; Schizophrenia databases