ONIX a free online cancer-research portal

By Emma Rigby, National Cancer Research Institute

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THE National Cancer Research Institute’s free, online, cancer-research portal, called ONIX, was launched at the end of August. ONIX (ONcology Information eXchange) enables scientists and clinicians to search through and access international research data held online. This will improve the flow of cancer research information between individuals, institutions and organisations.

The portal is free-to-use and uses powerful search  technology – which significantly reduces the time it currently takes for scientists and clinicians to find cancer-related data, and other information across the spectrum of research from genomics to clinical trials. This reduces duplication of research effort across the globe and makes it easier for researchers to collaborate on similar studies. ONIX will speed up the development of new therapies, and could potentially improve prognosis and diagnosis. 

The NCRI Informatics Coordination Unit is also an active participant within caBIG® Workspaces. This has enabled the NCRI to influence the development of caGRID, which includes lobbying for the adoption of Taverna as the underlying workflow component, plus alterations currently being proposed to enhance the semantic capabilities of searching.

www.ncri-onix.org.uk