IN THIS ISSUE:

WELCOME From GAAIN’s PI, Arthur W. Toga

It is with great pleasure I introduce you to the inaugural issue of GAAINews, the newsletter for the Global Alzheimer’s Association Interactive

Network (GAAIN). Since its launch on September 15, 2013, GAAN has made tremendous strides to connect scientists worldwide with data and resources. This issue of GAAINews highlights the goals of the GAAIN project, an introduction of the GAAIN systems (the GAAIN Scoreboard and GAAIN Interrogator), GAAIN’s presence at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference and the Data Integration in Life Sciences conference, the establishment of 30 active Data Partners and a note from our funders. I hope this issue shares our excitement and passion for connecting researchers around the global and accelerating big data research in the field of Alzheimer’s disease. As we continue our work, we look forward to establishing additional partnerships and creating novel approaches for big data science in dementia research. Lastly, I personally invite you to explore GAAIN by visiting www.gaain.org.

With Regards,

Arthur W. TogaPrincipal Investigator, GAAINDirector, Laboratory of Neuro ImagingDirector, USC Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute

THE FIRST OF ITS KIND

GAAIN developed the first usable online research platform to link

scientists with data and tools

CHANGING INVESTIGATORS’ APPROACH TO RESEARCH

Bringing investigators and data holders into a common virtual space

GAAIN RECEIVES PRAISE AND POSITIVE FEEDBACK AT AAIC

Researchers expressed excitement for the opportunity to interact and immediately receive responses to

their scientific questions

GAAIN UPHOLDS DATA SECURITY STANDARDS – THE DATA LIVES

WITH OUR PARTNERSInterfaces are easy to use but do not

infringe upon data ownership and security set forth by our partners

GAAIN LAUNCHES TWO INTERACTIVE RESEARCH

INTERFACESThe GAAIN Scoreboard and the

GAAIN Interrogator

A NOTE FROM OUR FUNDERS: THE ALZHEIMER’S ASSOCIATION

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

UPCOMING EVENTS

Winter/Spring 2016 Issue I

The Global Alzheimer’s Association Interactive Network Newsletter

2

THE FIRST OF ITS KIND

The Global Alzheimer’s Association Interactive Network (GAAIN) has developed the first, usable online research platform to link scientists with the data and tools. Investigators can get answers to complex scientific questions about Alzheimer’s disease through facilitating and sharing Alzheimer’s disease research data by joining our global network of Alzheimer’s disease study centers that share data. Since the launch of GAAIN’s website (www.gaain.org) prior to September 15, 2013, the GAAIN team has recruited over one hundred data partners and affiliates to join the GAAIN effort to accelerate Alzheimer’s disease research. These groups provide resources and data that enable investigators to perform comparative data analysis and cohort discovery. GAAIN, funded by the Alzheimer’s Association, continues to improve and expand while reaching out to new potential Data Partners in order to develop a comprehensive and efficient platform where investigators can search and access Alzheimer’s disease data in a collaborative and innovative manner.

GAAIN AIMS TO CHANGE THE WAY INVESTIGATORS APPROACH ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE RESEARCH

GAAIN provides an unprecedented opportunity to the Alzheimer’s disease research community. By bringing investigators and data holders in a common, virtual space, scientific exchange and discovery can be rapid, conclusive and groundbreaking – unlike ever before across all complex diseases. GAAIN provides a unique solution for Data Partners by addressing specific access control issues related to data sharing in a way never done before. GAAIN leaves the control over data access in the hands of the data owner and provided mecha-nisms for sharing data that have a low cost for the data owner. In addition, GAAIN gives data owners credit by presenting the Partner’s logo and a link to website on all GAAIN interfaces. Furthermore, the GAAIN system maximizes usability of data by transforming individual source data into a common schema and encoding standard thereby

making direct comparisons possible without requiring investigators to first decode data from each data source. For investigators, the GAAIN system invites exploration by presenting an interactive graphical interface through which data may be quickly and easily understood. It also strengthens the validation of research results by maximizing cohort sample size and extending the opportunity for an independent cohort to replicate research findings.

GAAIN RECEIVES PRAISE AND POSITIVE FEEDBACK AT AAIC 2015

With thousands of attendees, the 2015 Alz-heimer’s Asso-

ciation International Conference in Washington D.C. presented itself as a fantastic opportunity to engage with Alzheimer’s disease researchers and demonstrate the GAAIN systems at the GAAIN booth in the exhibit hall. Overall, researchers expressed their excitement for the opportunity to interact and immediately receive responses to their scientific ques-tions. One researcher remarked, “I can directly see the power and impact these tools [the GAAIN systems] can have on Alzheimer’s disease research. I look forward to working

with them in the future.” Many researchers and clinicians conveyed their interest and are currently in various stages of becoming a GAAIN data partner. The GAAIN team also presented at the Worldwide Alzhei-mer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initia-tive (WW-ADNI) meeting, the Data Sharing Platform in Alzheimer’s focused topic session, the Collab-oration of Alzheimer’s Prevention meeting. GAAIN also hosted a Meet and Greet for our partners designed to develop cross-relationships among our partners and to provide insight of GAAIN’s next steps. Please visit us at AAIC 2016 at our booth in the Exhibition Hall.

GAAIN UPHOLDS DATA SECURITY STANDARDS – THE DATA LIVES WITH OUR PARTNERS

GAAIN aims to build a comfortable online research community for investiga-

tors and data partners. We created interfaces that are easy to use and do not infringe upon data ownership and security set forth by our partners. Firstly, GAAIN never copies Partner data to its server disks, leaving our Partners in full control of their data contributions to GAAIN. We believe

Data Security Standards continued on page 3

GAAIN is in the process of onboarding 160+ data partners from around the globe.

3

GAAIN LAUNCHES TWO INTERACTIVE RESEARCH INTERFACES

GAAIN investigators can see what kinds of data are available to them by interacting with the GAAIN Scoreboard. Using its sleek and animated interface, the GAAIN Scoreboard provides researchers an instantaneous count of the number of subjects each Data Partner has data for in the GAAIN system based the investigator’s search criteria. Investigators simply select different data attributes and are provided results to their request instantly, both graphically and numerically. Investigators may also apply directly to each Data Partner for the full set of their data from this interface. GAAIN investigators can search all the data made available by the Data Partners using the GAAIN Interro-gator. The Interrogator shows in-vestigators how data fits together by graphing the data in interconnected views. Instead of typing numbers into text boxes, investigators search the data by interacting with graphs. The data is “interrogated” by manipu-lating the graphs, which changes the search parameters and automatically update the entire display. Searching takes place by dynamically defining cohorts and visually exploring the differences between them. Every search result shows the number of subjects from each Data Partner and directs investigators where to obtain the data from each Data Partner.

DATA SECURITY STANDARDS

there is no safer solution than keeping the data where it originates. Secondly, the contributed data is always managed securely using in-dustry-standard transmission pro-tocols. Thirdly, investigator access is solely managed and determined by our Data Partners. It is up to the partners to decide who may use their data.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Neu S, Crawford KL & Toga AW. 2015. Sharing data in the Global Alzheimer’s Association Interactive Network. NeuroImage, S1053-8119(15)00472-3. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.05.082

Ashish N & Toga AW. 2015. Medical data transformation using rewriting. Front. Neuroinform., 9:1.

Toga AW, Neu SC, Bhatt P, Crawford KL & Ashish N. 2015. The Global Alzheimer’s Association Interactive Network. Alzheimers & Dementia, S1552-5260(15)02651-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jalz.2015.06.189

Toga AW, Bhatt P & Ashish N. 2016. Data sharing in Alzheimer’s disease research. Alzheimer’s Disease and Associated Disorders. Epub ahead of print.

continued from page 2

The GAAIN Scoreboard is designed to quickly and interactively discover which GAAIN partners have data meeting your research objective.

The GAAIN Interrogator instantly and interactively allows researchers to ask scientific questions by definingcohorts and studying the relationships of variables between them.

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Winter/Spring 2016 Issue I

4

A NOTE FROM OUR FUNDERS:

THE ALZHEIMER’S ASSOCIATION

Advancing our understanding of Alzheimer’s disease requires big data that is cataloged, aggregated and accessible. By linking scien-tists, projects and data together, the Global Alzheimer’s Association Interactive Network (GAAIN™) is leading the way to a new level of collaboration that is critical to find-ing solutions for this disease. The Alzheimer’s Association is commit-ted to providing essential resources like GAAIN to engage global ex-pertise and solve this worldwide epidemic. With the significant participation of the research com-munity, GAAIN is transforming the field, improving the way we exchange and interrogate data, and leading us closer to understating and stopping this disease.

Maria CarrilloChief Science Officer

Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative

Australian Imaging Biomarkers and Lifestyle Flagship Study of Ageing

BIOCARD: Predictors of Cognitive Decline Among Normal Individuals

Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging

Canberra Longitudinal Study on Aging

Critical Path Institute

Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer’s Network

European Alzheimer’s Disease Initiative

European Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study

Framingham Heart Study

French National Alzheimer’s Database

Fundacio ACE

Health and Retirement Study

Hellenic Longitudinal Investigation of Aging and Diet

Integrated NeuroDegenerative Disease database

Italian Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative

Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance Research

Layton Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease Center

Longitudinal Online Research and Imaging System

National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center

National Institute of Aging Genetic Alzheimer’s Disease Data Storage Site /

Alzheimer’s Disease Genetic Consortium

neuGRID for You

Open Access Series of Imaging Studies

Personality and Total Health through life

Quantitative Imaging Biomarker Alliance

Risk Evaluation and Education for Alzheimer’s Disease study

Translational Genomics Research Institute

USC/UAB Clinical Trials Collaboration

Wisconsin Longitudinal Study

Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer’s Prevention

RECENT ADDITIONS TO OUR PARTNERS AND AFFILIATES

The Global Alzheimer’s Association Interactive Network

Email: info@GAAIN. org

Website: http://www.gaain.org

Powered by the Laboratory of Neuro Imaging (LONI)

Become a GAAIN Partner by visiting www.gaain.org/partners

Join us!

UPCOMING EVENTS

June 26-30, 2016

(Geneva, Switzerland) Organization for Human Brain

Mapping Conference

July 24-27, 2016

(Toronto, Canada) Alzheimer’s Association

International Conference Visit us at our booth in the

Exhibition Hall