title: The INTEGRATE project: Delivering solutions for efficient multi-centric clinical research and trials.
abstract: The objective of the INTEGRATE project (http://www.fp7-integrate.eu/) that has recently concluded successfully was the development of innovative biomedical applications focused on streamlining the execution of clinical research, on enabling multidisciplinary collaboration, on management and large-scale sharing of multi-level heterogeneous datasets, and on the development of new methodologies and of predictive multi-scale models in cancer. In this paper, we present the way the INTEGRATE consortium has approached important challenges such as the integration of multi-scale biomedical data in the context of post-genomic clinical trials, the development of predictive models and the implementation of tools to facilitate the efficient execution of postgenomic multi-centric clinical trials in breast cancer. Furthermore, we provide a number of key "lessons learned" during the process and give directions for further future research and development.
authors.affiliation: Computational BioMedicine Laboratory, FORTH-ICS, N. Plastira 100, Heraklion, Greece. Electronic address: kondylak@ics.forth.gr.
authors.forename: Haridimos
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kondylakis
authors.affiliation: Custodix NV, Kortrijksesteenweg 214b3, Sint-Martens-Latem, Belgium.
authors.forename: Brecht
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Claerhout
authors.affiliation: German Breast Group, GBG Forschungs GmbH, Geschaeftsfuehrer: Prof. Dr. med. Gunter von Minckwitz, Handelsregister: Amtsgericht Offenbach, HRB 40477 Sitz der Gesellschaft ist Neu-Isenburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Mehta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Keyur
authors.affiliation: Computational BioMedicine Laboratory, FORTH-ICS, N. Plastira 100, Heraklion, Greece.
authors.forename: Lefteris
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Koumakis
authors.affiliation: PHILIPS Research Europe, High Tech Campus 34, Eindhoven, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jasper
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van Leeuwen
authors.affiliation: Computational BioMedicine Laboratory, FORTH-ICS, N. Plastira 100, Heraklion, Greece.
authors.forename: Kostas
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Marias
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Informatics Group, DLSIIS & DIA, Facultad de Informática, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Campus de Montegancedo S/N, 28660 Boadilla del Monte, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Perez-Rey
authors.affiliation: Custodix NV, Kortrijksesteenweg 214b3, Sint-Martens-Latem, Belgium.
authors.forename: Kristof
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: De Schepper
authors.affiliation: Computational BioMedicine Laboratory, FORTH-ICS, N. Plastira 100, Heraklion, Greece; Department of Informatics Engineering, Technological Educational Institute of Crete, Estavromenos 71004, Hearklion, Crete, Greece.
authors.forename: Manolis
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tsiknakis
authors.affiliation: PHILIPS Research Europe, High Tech Campus 34, Eindhoven, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Anca
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bucur
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D019295:Computational Biology; D003628:Database Management Systems; D016208:Databases, Factual; D023281:Genomics; D006801:Humans
keywords: Cohort selection; Collaborative environment; Innovative biomedical applications; Post-genomic clinical trials; Predictive models; Quantitative analysis; Semantic integration