IH Registry Provides Research Resource Data to eagle-i Consortium
IH Registry Provides Research Resource Data to NIH-Funded Database Built By OHSU, Harvard, 7 other institutions
Innovative eagle-i Consortium’s purpose is to make researchers aware of valuable biomedical resources and accelerate research
April 30, 2010—The majority of existing research resources cannot be found easily, using university websites, the scientific literature, or Internet search engines.
The IH Registry was established with the goal of making IH research happen, which is why the Registry will participate in the eagle-i Consortium, a new, $15 million initiative funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The consortium is designed to accelerate the development of much needed diagnostics, treatments and prevention strategies by connecting researchers with valuable biomedical resources that would otherwise be unknown to them. 
It will also help researchers to connect and collaborate with each other; reduce the time and effort spent searching for resources needed for their work; and reduce the amount of funding spent re-creating resources that already exist but cannot be readily found.
The IH Registry is participating in the eagle-i Consortium under the auspices of Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), the Registry’s partner. The other institutions taking part in the eagle-i Consortium are Dartmouth College; Harvard University; Jackson State University; Morehouse School of Medicine; Montana University; University of Alaska; University of Hawaii; and University of Puerto Rico. Collectively, the nine consortium sites represent a full range of environments (urban, suburban, rural), geographies, levels of infrastructure, sizes, and racial/ethnic backgrounds.
Over the next two years, the Consortium will collect information about the resources available at each of the nine institutions and catalog that information into a network, linked through a dedicated, web-based search portal. Each institution’s information will be stored locally in a resource database, then connected together through the network.
Researchers will be able to search the network for such information as animal models, laboratories, current studies and interests, resources available for research and student research opportunities, and donor and tissue programs or banks.
Information on the IH Registry will be listed among OHSU’s resources, though actual data from the IH Registry will not be available through the eagle-i Consortium. Any researcher interested in using IH Registry data in a research project must be approved by the Registry, in accordance with HIPPA and OHSU regulations.
The eagle-i Consortium will only access the initial nine sites, but eventually, any institution in the US will be able to participate.