Data Coming Soon to the BDR

The BDR is a sustainable archive of data generated by the biomedical research community. Data housed in the BDR are available for sharing and exchange. Biomedical imaging data from humans and animal models are the primary data type available for download with a minimal set of descriptive metadata, and in some cases, associated clinical, genetic, or other biomedical data.

Data will be discoverable via a concept-based query interface and further queried and explored via database-specific query interfaces. The integration of data across multiple sources and domains requires common vocabularies to locate relevant information, to associate similar data types, and to discover knowledge through a higher level semantic network. All data sources will be annotated using a common ontology, BIRNLex, to enable intelligent exploration of the BDR data resources.


Preview of data coming soon:


  • Human structural MRI calibration data. Morphometry BIRN Traveling Subjects Dataset includes five subjects tested twice at each MBIRN site on successive days. Data was acquired on 1.5T scanners manufactured by Siemens, GE and Picker.
  • Human, multi-site diffusion tensor imaging calibration dataset. This large dataset can be used as a reference for DTI data on a 1.5 T scanner to validate analysis methods and calibrate the SNR requirements and acquisition schemes [S. Mori, Johns Hopkins University].
  • Human, multi-site structural MRI dataset for the study of depression. The Multisite Imaging Research In the Analysis of Depression (MIRIAD) is longitudinal study of structural brain changes during depression in late life. The MRI data include axial and coronal Fast-Spin Echo scans, T1-weighted scans, and segmented data that identifies ventricles and lesions. Subject and treatment data are available. [J. McFall; Duke University]
  • Human structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data, longitudinal.  Single-site series of structural MRI data sets from 150 subjects aged 60-95, including healthy participants and individuals with mild dementia of the Alzheimer's type [Open Access Structural Imaging Series (OASIS). D. Marcus, Washington University, R. Buckner, Harvard University].
  • Microarray data. The data available for access through this system is being expanded to include additional experiments and contain more metadata. The infrastructure is built so any investigator may upload data from other species such as chicks and humans and instantly access it through our query tools.[Mouse BIRN]
  • Trisomic (Ts6rDn) Mouse Model of Down Syndrome. Dr. Elaine Bearer at Brown University and Dr. Russ Jacobs at Caltech recently published their findings in this transgenic mouse. Their studies compare active neuronal circuitry and anatomy in the hippocampal-septal memory circuit using a unique MR imaging technique of in vivo Mn2+ tract tracing..
  • Spatially registered 2D images: UCSD's SmartAtlas group has developed a spatial registration pipeline that is housed by a database accessible through SmartAtlas on the BIRN Portal. These data will be available to anyone through MBAT.[Mouse BIRN]