AlzPharm: integration of neurodegeneration data using RDF

Background: Neuroscientists often need to access a wide range of data sets distributed over the Internet. These data sets, however, are typically neither integrated nor interoperable, resulting in a barrier to answering complex neuroscience research questions. Domain ontologies can enable the querying heterogeneous data sets, but they are not sufficient for neuroscience since the data of interest commonly span multiple research domains. To this end, eNeuroscience seeks to provide an integrated platform for neuroscientists to discover new knowledge through seamless integration of the very diverse types of neuroscience data. Here we present a Semantic Web approach to building this e-Neuroscience framework by using the Resource Description Framework (RDF) and its vocabulary description language, RDF Schema (RDFS), as a standard data model to facilitate both representation and integration of the data. Results: We have constructed a pilot ontology for BrainPharm (a subset of SenseLab) usin...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2007
• Where: BMCBI
• Authors: Hugo Y. K. Lam, Luis N. Marenco, Tim Clark, Yong Gao, June Kinoshita, Gordon M. Shepherd, Perry L. Miller, Elizabeth Wu, Gwendolyn T. Wong, Nian Liu, Chiquito J. Crasto, Thomas M. Morse, Susie Stephens, Kei-Hoi Cheung
• Keywords: BMCBI 2007, Data Sets, Semantic Web, Semantic Web Approach