Aligning tissue banking data models for caBIG interoperability

MD Anderson Cancer Center strives to share data from its central tissue bank with other institutions via the caBIG data sharing framework. To conform to "NCI Best Practices for Biospecimen Resources", a caGRID compatible model (i.e. caTissue Core/Suite) must be adopted or an existing tissue banking application (TissueStation) must be adapted for interoperability. We present a data model assessment and method used in development of an enterprise strategy for ensuring inter-institution data sharing capabilities.