Victorian Partnership for Advanced Computing

BioGrid Australia (formerly MMIM) is a project aimed at providing a platform for clinical and scientific researchers to access and share biotechnical and clinical data across multiple organisations Australia-wide. Initiated by Bio21, who has provided $3.32 million to the project, BioGrid Australia has also been supported by the Victorian State Government, receiving a total of $11 million through the State Government’s STI program and $4.3 million through the Federal Government. The Australian Cancer Grid (ACG) is the flagship expansion of the BioGrid platform.

BioGrid Australia is a virtual repository linking to all participating teaching hospitals and Cancer Research Centres in Australia as well as the Integrated Cancer Centres in Victoria. BioGrid Australia links data-based genomics information with patient information. By providing access to multiple data sets from disparate existing databases at many institutions, to the data on clinical outcomes, quality and audit data as well as genomic data, images and analytical tools, researchers will better understand how individuals’ genomic characteristics affect the way in which they respond to a disease and to its current and potential treatments.

The Australian Cancer Grid

The Australian Cancer Grid (ACG), which has received a total of $21 million of funding from the Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development, focuses on providing cancer researchers with data on the clinical and surgical outcomes in the various types of cancer as well as data on the tumour biospecimens which cancer patients have donated for research purposes. The ACG is a virtual repository of patient and scientific data that will link Victoria’s cancer researchers, health professionals, cancer institutes and health services into one of the world’s largest cancer control networks. The depth and breadth of the data will provide a huge resource and will initially cover the Colorectal, Brain, Breast, Lung, Sarcoma, Gynaecology, Prostate, Head and Neck, Upper Gastro-intestinal, Melanoma, Renal and Prostate tumour streams.

Relevant Links:

• BioGrid Australia (formerly MMIM) http://www.biogrid.org.au
• Bio21 http://www.bio21.com.au
• STI http://www.business.vic.gov.au

Contact

For further information on VPAC's involvement with BioGrid Australia, please contact David Morrison via davidm@vpac.org