About

Metadata-driven data discovery

The NIAID Data Ecosystem Discovery Portal enables users to find datasets from a wide range of repositories and offers a convenient one-stop-shop for discovery of data on infectious and immune-mediated diseases (IIDs). The Discovery Portal regularly collects metadata from all included repositories and indexes it in a searchable catalogue for anyone to explore.

Data access through repositories

Datasets are not stored in the Discovery Portal. The Discovery Portal does not provide direct access to datasets but provides links to dataset landing pages within their respective repositories. Users can use these links to explore datasets of interest and obtain access as required by the repository.

The Discovery Portal can be used to:

• Search across millions of datasets from numerous sources, datasets that were previously unknown, to bring other dimensions into analyses.
• Download metadata or access via API.
• Track research across funding programs or specific scientific areas.

Interpret search results carefully

• The Discovery Portal does not aggregate every dataset from every source related to IID. The Discovery Portal collects metadata from a defined list of data repositories and standardizes them according to our metadata schema. The list is continuously updated. Anyone is welcome to suggest a data repository here.

• Results may include irrelevant datasets. The Discovery Portal also collects metadata from generalist repositories and search results may include datasets that are not related to IIDs.

• Metadata fields may be incomplete. The Discovery Portal attempts to standardize metadata that is made available by data repositories. If metadata from the repositories is missing or incomplete, it will also be missing or incomplete within the Discovery Portal. NIAID is working with the community to improve the completeness, quality, and consistency of metadata, in accordance with the FAIR Guiding Principles.

Partnership

The development of NIAID Data Ecosystem involves a large number of partners, including numerous data repositories who host the data and provide metadata. The Discovery Portal is being developed by Scripps Research in collaboration with NIAID. NIAID is also working with partners across NIH, the US Government, and beyond to align the architecture and vision of the NIAID Ecosystem with similar systems elsewhere. The NIAID Data Ecosystem is in early stages of development and the partnerships will continue to expand as we continue to improve the capabilities and value of the Ecosystem to the research community.

For more information, visit Frequently Asked Questions.

Contact Us

To provide feedback or ask additional questions, contact us at NIAIDDataEcosystem@mail.nih.gov.