[OpenTox] OpenTox Working Group Data Standards and Metadata

[Thomas Exner]

Dear all:

As part of the activities of the OpenTox Association, working groups on 
different aspects of OpenTox have been launched. As leader of the 
working group on data standards and metadata, I would like to invite 
everyone to participate in our activities. The goals of the group are 
described below and will also be presented and discussed on the OpenTox 
Euro meeting in Dublin (Sep. 30 - Oct. 2). If you are interested or have 
any question, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Best regards.
Thomas

WG3 Defining Standards for Data and Metadata in OpenTox

Large amounts of toxicity data is generated worldwide on a daily basis 
and stored in different open and inhouse databases. The format of the 
data and the availability of metadata, describing the experimental 
setups and in this way the quality of the data, differ strongly 
prohibiting analysis combining data from different resources. The Data 
Standards working group will develop standards for data file of toxicity 
related endpoints as well as approaches to document the related metadata 
in human- but especially also computer-readable form. These will 
consider achievements from earlier and on-going projects like ToxBank 
and eNanoMapper but also the requirements imposed by regulatory formats 
like REACH and SAND.

To achieve this, the working group plans to:
1. generate an on-line catalog of available data resources and review 
the data formats used.
2. consolidate the available formats and define recommendations.
3. communicate with experts to understand the specific requirements of 
each experimental technique.
4. discuss possibilities of harmonization with vendors of experimental 
equipment.



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PD Dr. Thomas E. Exner
Theoretische Pharmazeutische Chemie & Biophysik
Lehrstuhl Pharmazeutische Chemie
Pharmazeutisches Institut
Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen
Auf der Morgenstelle 8 (Haus B)
72076 Tübingen
Germany

Tel.:    +49-(0)7071-2976969
Mobil:   +49-(0)171-3807485
Fax:     +49-(0)7071-295637
E-Mail:  Thomas.Exner[at]uni-tuebingen.de

Fachbereich Chemie  und Zukunftskolleg
Universität Konstanz
78457 Konstanz
Germany

Tel.:   +49-(0)7531-882015
Fax:    +49-(0)7531-883587
E-Mail: Thomas.Exner[at]uni-konstanz.de
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