GA4GH: International policies and standards for data sharing across genomic research and healthcare.

The Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH) aims to accelerate biomedical advances by enabling the responsible sharing of clinical and genomic data through both harmonized data aggregation and federated approaches. The decreasing cost of genomic sequencing (along with other genome-wide molecular assays) and increasing evidence of its clinical utility will soon drive the generation of sequence data from tens of millions of humans, with increasing levels of diversity. In this perspective, we present the GA4GH strategies for addressing the major challenges of this data revolution. We describe the GA4GH organization, which is fueled by the development efforts of eight Work Streams and informed by the needs of 24 Driver Projects and other key stakeholders. We present the GA4GH suite of secure, interoperable technical standards and policy frameworks and review the current status of standards, their relevance to key domains of research and clinical care, and future plans of GA4GH. Broad international participation in building, adopting, and deploying GA4GH standards and frameworks will catalyze an unprecedented effort in data sharing that will be critical to advancing genomic medicine and ensuring that all populations can access its benefits

An analysis regarding energy efficiency in metro Atlanta's private office buildings

Commercial office building occupants are a significant consumer of electricity, and they subsequently contribute a significant amount of greenhouse gases into the environment in the process. An opportunity exists to improve the energy efficiency in existing buildings, and the Energy Star certification program provides both tools to do so and an independent verification of a building's superior energy efficiency. However, only 16% of metro Atlanta's office space has achieved this certification. The intent of the research was to identify the current state of energy efficiency in buildings, and to identify potential obstacles to obtaining the Energy Star certification. Towards this goal, secondary research was conducted among prominent academic journals, as well as numerous professional and governmental organizations and publications. Primary research was conducted through an online survey of Facility Managers, Property Managers, and Building Engineers of Energy Star office buildings and comparable non-Energy Star office buildings in the metro Atlanta area. The survey was conducted mostly using closed-ended questions using a Likert scale so as to provide a basis for statistical analysis among responses, and open-ended questions were also included to identify the current state of energy efficiency practices. The research identified three areas which hold statistically significant differences between Energy Star and directly comparable buildings. An analysis also determined that building age does seem to play a role in the building representatives' responses. Four conclusions were found regarding characteristics of Energy Star buildings themselves. The research also identified five conclusions regarding the expected result when pursuing the Energy Star certification. These conclusions include the best method to achieve the Energy Star certification, the expected energy savings, the expected time spent to achieve the certification, the expected cost to achieve the certification, and the main reasons to recertify the building. Finally, this research highlights innovative practices in other states and cities, such as financial incentives and legislation which require commercial buildings to obtain a building rating. Such innovative practices are currently not employed in the Atlanta metro area, but would be beneficial to both the Atlanta area and individual buildings.M.S.Committee Chair: Kathy Roper; Committee Member: Daniel Castro-Lacouture; Committee Member: Linda Thomas-Moble

GA4GH: International policies and standards for data sharing across genomic research and healthcare.

The Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH) aims to accelerate biomedical advances by enabling the responsible sharing of clinical and genomic data through both harmonized data aggregation and federated approaches. The decreasing cost of genomic sequencing (along with other genome-wide molecular assays) and increasing evidence of its clinical utility will soon drive the generation of sequence data from tens of millions of humans, with increasing levels of diversity. In this perspective, we present the GA4GH strategies for addressing the major challenges of this data revolution. We describe the GA4GH organization, which is fueled by the development efforts of eight Work Streams and informed by the needs of 24 Driver Projects and other key stakeholders. We present the GA4GH suite of secure, interoperable technical standards and policy frameworks and review the current status of standards, their relevance to key domains of research and clinical care, and future plans of GA4GH. Broad international participation in building, adopting, and deploying GA4GH standards and frameworks will catalyze an unprecedented effort in data sharing that will be critical to advancing genomic medicine and ensuring that all populations can access its benefits

GA4GH: International policies and standards for data sharing across genomic research and healthcare

The Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH) aims to accelerate biomedical advances by enabling the responsible sharing of clinical and genomic data through both harmonized data aggregation and federated approaches. The decreasing cost of genomic sequencing (along with other genome-wide molecular assays) and increasing evidence of its clinical utility will soon drive the generation of sequence data from tens of millions of humans, with increasing levels of diversity. In this perspective, we present the GA4GH strategies for addressing the major challenges of this data revolution. We describe the GA4GH organization, which is fueled by the development efforts of eight Work Streams and informed by the needs of 24 Driver Projects and other key stakeholders. We present the GA4GH suite of secure, interoperable technical standards and policy frameworks and review the current status of standards, their relevance to key domains of research and clinical care, and future plans of GA4GH. Broad international participation in building, adopting, and deploying GA4GH standards and frameworks will catalyze an unprecedented effort in data sharing that will be critical to advancing genomic medicine and ensuring that all populations can access its benefits