Enabling precision medicine in neonatology, an integrated repository for preterm birth research.

Sirota M1,2, Thomas CG3, Liu R4, Zuhl M5, Banerjee P5, Wong RJ6, Quaintance CC6, Leite R7, Chubiz J8, Anderson R9, Chappell J10, Kim M11,12, Grobman W13, Zhang G10, Rokas A11,12, England SK8, Parry S7, Shaw GM6, Simpson JL4, Thomson E3, Butte AJ1,2; March of Dimes Prematurity Research Centers.

Abstract

Preterm birth, or the delivery of an infant prior to 37 weeks of gestation, is a significant cause of infant morbidity and mortality. In the last decade, the advent and continued development of molecular profiling technologies has enabled researchers to generate vast amount of 'omics' data, which together with integrative computational approaches, can help refine the current knowledge about disease mechanisms, diagnostics, and therapeutics. Here we describe the March of Dimes' Database for Preterm Birth Research (http://www.immport.org/resources/mod), a unique resource that contains a variety of 'omics' datasets related to preterm birth. The database is open publicly, and as of January 2018, links 13 molecular studies with data across tens of thousands of patients from 6 measurement modalities. The data in the repository are highly diverse and include genomic, transcriptomic, immunological, and microbiome data. Relevant datasets are augmented with additional molecular characterizations of almost 25,000 biological samples from public databases. We believe our data-sharing efforts will lead to enhanced research collaborations and coordination accelerating the overall pace of discovery in preterm birth research.