# Brain-CODE ## Overview Brain-CODE is the large-scale neuroinformatics platform of the [[Ontario Brain Institute]] (OBI), developed since 2012 for the collection, curation, federation, sharing, and analysis of multimodal neuroscience data across brain disorders. It serves 240+ researchers at 40+ institutions across Canada, storing data from OBI's five Integrated Discovery Programs (IDPs) alongside data from other research teams. Brain-CODE is one of the three primary data platforms integrated into the [[CONP]] (Canadian Open Neuroscience Platform) portal, alongside [[LORIS]] and [[XNAT]], and has been an early implementor of [[FAIR Principles]] in clinical neuroscience since its inception. ## Platform Architecture Brain-CODE is built around five core components: - Data capture uses standardised web forms with Common Data Elements (CDEs) across OBI's IDP studies, supporting clinical, neuroimaging, genetic, and behavioural data. - Data storage provides secure, encrypted storage on Canadian-hosted infrastructure with Privacy-by-Design and participant data de-identified. - Data integration enables cross-disorder harmonisation through shared CDEs, supporting queries across data modalities and brain disorders. - Analytics provides a web-based high-performance computing environment with advanced software for data management, curation, and analysis. - Federation provides bidirectional links to external databases including [[LORIS]] at McGill University, [[XNAT]], and the [[CONP]] portal. ## FAIR Implementation Brain-CODE was one of the earliest platforms to operationalise [[FAIR Principles]] in clinical neuroscience (since 2012), documented in a 2023 paper in *Frontiers in Neuroinformatics*: - Findable: all data releases registered on [[CONP]] portal with DATS metadata; DOIs assigned; standardised metadata schemas - Accessible: web-based portal (https://www.braincode.ca); controlled access model with Data Access Committee review; standardised consent language for de-identified data reuse - Interoperable: Common Data Elements; [[LORIS]] and [[XNAT]] federation; DATS metadata model compatible with CONP portal indexing - Reusable: standardised consent for secondary research use; data governance policy published; data releases include documentation ## Data Releases and Open Datasets Brain-CODE hosts 10+ datasets on the [[CONP]] portal, including: - ONDRI (Ontario Neurodegenerative Disease Research Initiative): multimodal longitudinal data on Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, ALS, vascular and FTD - CHILD-BRIGHT: cerebral palsy; brain-based childhood disability - POND: neurodevelopmental disorders (autism, ADHD, OCD, fragile X) - Depression and concussion programme datasets Datasets are described using a customised DATS (Data Tags Suite) metadata model and are accessible via DataLad through the CONP portal. ## Privacy and Governance - Privacy-by-Design architecture - PPRL (Privacy-Preserving Record Linkage) using El Gamal homomorphic encryption for linking with health administrative data - Data Access Committee governs external data requests - Informatics Steering Committee oversees platform direction - Brain-CODE Governance Policy publicly available ## Connections - Operated by: [[Ontario Brain Institute]] - Federation: [[CONP]] (all data releases registered) - Platform interoperability: [[LORIS]], [[XNAT]] ## Resources - https://www.braincode.ca (Brain-CODE portal) - https://braininstitute.ca/research-data-sharing/brain-code (OBI overview) - https://doi.org/10.3389/fninf.2023.1158378 (FAIR in action: Brain-CODE, 2023) - https://braininstitute.ca/docs/Brain-CODE-Governance-Policy-version-FINAL.pdf