Summary description of project context and objectives

AIM
The aim of neuGRID was to build a new, user-friendly Grid-based research e-Infrastructure based on existing e-Infrastructures such as the EC-funded FP6 MammoGrid and IMI AddNeuroMed projects by developing a set of generalised and reusable medical services in order to enable the European neuroscience community to carry out research required for the study of degenerative brain diseases. In neuGRID, the collection/archiving of large amounts of imaging data was paired with computationally intensive data analyses. neuGRID provides neuroscientists with the capability to identify neurodegenerative disease markers through the analysis of 3D magnetic resonance brain images via the provision of sets of distributed medical and Grid services, but also a general, expandable infrastructure of services for other medical applications. neuGRID is designed to be compliant with acknowledged EU and international standards regarding data collection, data management and Grid construction. Of the two deployed infrastructures, MammoGrid has provided knowledge related to the middleware and upperware that will allow applications to interface with the Grid, and the LORIS database system developed at MNI and used by AddNeuroMed handles the collection/archiving/retrieval of multicentre clinical data, biomedical images and computerized image analysis. neuGRID aims to become the "Google for Brain Imaging", providing a centrally-managed, easy-to-use set of image analysis tools with which scientists can answer complex neuroscientific questions.

KEY RESEARCH CHALLENGES
The challenges facing neuGRID were: the gridification of brain imaging analysis "pipelines" (e.g., cortical thickness extraction), the development of a mid-layer of services between user-facing and grid-facing services to ensure a generic and expandable infrastructure , and the testing and validation of the prototype infrastructure. In the first year the technical foundation was laid on which the remainder of the project will be executed. In the second year, hardware, middleware, and applications have been developed and partially deployed, the first data computational challenge has been carried out, and generic medical and specific neuroscientific services have been drafted. In the third year, the deployment of hardware, middleware, and applications has been finalized, the second and last computational challenge has been completed, and generic medical and specific neuroscientific services have been finalized.

Technical informations

Project acronym: neuGRID

Contract n°: RI-211714

Project type: I3

Start date: 01/02/2008

Duration: 36 months

Total budget: 3 058 911 €

Funding from the EC: 2 800 000 €

Total funded effort in person-month: 405

Web site: www.neuGRID.eu

Contact person: Giovanni B. Frisoni, email: gfrisoni@fatebenefratelli.it
                        tel.: +39 030 3501261, fax.: +39 030 3501313

Collaboration with other EC funded projects: ENIR, Innomed/AddNeuroMed, MammoGrid,
                       Health-E-Child