Laboratory Information Management System Designed to Manage, Share Data More Effectively

LabVantage Solution, Inc. (Bridgewater, NJ, USA) recently reported that its Sapphire laboratory information management suite (LIMS) has been awarded the caBIG (cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid) Bronze Compatibility Certification by the U.S. National Cancer Institute Center for Bioinformatics (NCICB; Rockville, MD, USA).

Sponsored by U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI; Rockville, MD, USA),
caBIG is a network created by biomedical informaticists, researchers, physicians, patients, and others to establish an interoperable information infrastructure. The caBIG certification program is designed for software system certification; thus, Sapphire satisfies the requirements, including: programming and messaging interfaces that allow programmatic access to data from an external resource; vocabularies/terminologies that permit use of publicly accessible controlled vocabularies as well as local terminologies; data elements that maintain sufficient data element description, built using controlled terminology with accurate metadata storage; and information models that provide an electronic diagrammatic representation of the information model.

"More and more cancer and translational research organizations, such as NCI and its designated research centers, are seeking to standardize their laboratory informatics solutions to facilitate knowledge sharing, and in turn, achieve research success,” stated Terry Smallmon, director of life sciences at LabVantage. "For example, as part of the caBIG-certified Sapphire Suite, the Sapphire BioBanking solution is of critical importance to organizations needing to establish standardized information technology solutions for their biorepositories or biobanks.”

LabVantage's Sapphire BioBanking system has not only been selected to support the NCI Cancer Genome Atlas Biospecimen Core Resource, but has been adopted by numerous other institutions worldwide. The system is well recognized as the industry-leading thin-client LIMS and the major biobanking solution for numerous institutions. "The Bronze Certification of Sapphire, the first LIMS and the only pure zero-footprint solution to achieve this distinction, is another validation of our continuous commitment to adopt informatics standards and be at the forefront of best-in-breed technology, functionality, and flexibility,” remarked Jim Aurelio, CEO and president of LabVantage. "With Sapphire, we enable a truly collaborative and compliant environment for scientific research organizations, both inside and outside of the NCI community.”

LabVantage is a global provider of enterprise solutions customized for leading laboratories, serving discovery, development, formulation, process research, raw material testing, and quality management laboratories across multiple industries.

CaBIG is an information network enabling all constituencies in the cancer community--researchers, physicians, and patients--to share data and knowledge. The components of CaBIG are widely applicable beyond cancer as well.

The National Cancer Institute Center for Bioinformatics, in cooperation with the NCI Technology Transfer Branch, has created the caBIG Bronze Compatibility Certification Program, which has pre-set guidelines and requirements in the areas of caBIG compatibility.

Related Links:
LabVantage
Cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid
National Cancer Institute Center for Bioinformatics