Vanderbilt BioVU (tool)

RRID:SCR_004632

THIS RESOURCE IS NO LONGER IN SERVICE. Documented on January 11, 2023. BioVU is a research resource providing a View into biology at the level of DNA and other important macromolecules. BioVU has two major components. The first is a repository of DNA samples (extracted from discarded blood samples) that are coded solely by a Research Unique Identifier (RUI) derived from the Medical Record Number (MRN) using a one-way hash function. This is a computer algorithm that creates a transformation of each MRN such that the resulting RUI (which is in this instance is a 512 byte identifier) is unique, and has the property that it is not possible to infer or compute the MRN that generated it. As of early 2009, over 50,000 DNA samples were in the biobank, with new samples being added at the rate of approximately 700 per week. The second component of the resource is the creation of a database known as the Synthetic Derivative which is a collection of de-identified information extracted from VUMC''s electronic clinical information systems, indexed by the same one-way RUI used to track samples, and with content changed by deletion or permutation of all identifiers contained within each record. The Synthetic Derivative search interface is available to Vanderbilt researchers via the StarBRITE research portal created and maintained by the Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research. This user interface enables investigators meeting protocol approval criteria and other user agreement requirements to receive protocol-specific sets of data derived from DNA samples and from the Synthetic Derivative.