[Eeglabnews] Assistance needed for NEMAR, the EEGLAB data archive and compute resource

[Arnaud Delorme]

Dear all,

We need your assistance in securing more funding for EEGLAB-related data resources by contributing a letter of support for our proposal to continue building and supporting NEMAR.

The community data portal we are developing under NIMH project “Brain initiative resource: Development of a human neuroelectromagnetic (NEM) data archive and tools resource (NEMAR)”  is now successfully disseminating EEG, MEG, and iEEG (NEM) datasets to the research community. NEMAR is a portal to NEM datasets shared publicly in BIDS format (bids.neuroimaging.io <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://bids.neuroimaging.io/__;!!Mih3wA!Hl29-7I607lqQjWsOXYFvgdU3PIIuNCPRr77K14Uka69JD7s7N95DXC_7ayPqQZMdBOrMg_mOCs1UCy3hLSNOLBg$ >) via OpenNeuro.org.  EEGLAB-to-BIDS tools we have developed for NEMAR have been used to export 40% of the 200 NEM datasets (including over 10,000 participants) NEMAR now makes available. The NEMAR website (nemar.org <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://nemar.org/__;!!Mih3wA!Hl29-7I607lqQjWsOXYFvgdU3PIIuNCPRr77K14Uka69JD7s7N95DXC_7ayPqQZMdBOrMg_mOCs1UCy3hPiCn3ye$ >) supports browsing dataset details and metadata, offering several thousand visitors per month multiple visualizations and data quality assessments of an increasing number of NEM datasets. 

Further, the NEMAR platform, through its tight association with the Neuroscience Gateway (nsgportal.org <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://nsgportal.org/__;!!Mih3wA!Hl29-7I607lqQjWsOXYFvgdU3PIIuNCPRr77K14Uka69JD7s7N95DXC_7ayPqQZMdBOrMg_mOCs1UCy3hCS5TWzh$ >, NSG), functions as an integrated data, tools, and compute resource (datcor) that allows NEMAR users instant access to the San Diego Supercomputer Center high-performance computing resources. NEMAR users can select one or more available datasets via NEMAR search and then compute on them in any way they wish by submitting an analysis script operating on Matlab or Python to NSG, pointing to the NEMAR dataset(s) of interest while avoiding any data download and re-upload.

We are submitting a continuation proposal to maintain and enhance NEMAR as follows:

Increase the amount and quality of analysis-ready data available on NEMAR. Documented automated quality and data processing pipelines run on all NEMAR datasets to provide BIDS-derivative datasets containing pre-processed data available for download to users.

Enhance searchability, visualization, and quality assessment of NEMAR data. NEMAR will allow users to search for NEMAR data associated with any set of metadata terms – including event descriptions in datasets with HED tag annotations (see hedtags.org <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://hedtags.org/__;!!Mih3wA!Hl29-7I607lqQjWsOXYFvgdU3PIIuNCPRr77K14Uka69JD7s7N95DXC_7ayPqQZMdBOrMg_mOCs1UCy3hO6-pEtn$ >). It will provide a growing set of precomputed data visualizations and data quality measures for each dataset.

Enhance NEMAR data processing capabilities. NEMAR's strength as a ‘datcor’ is its tight association with the Neuroscience Gateway (nsgportal.org <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://nsgportal.org/__;!!Mih3wA!Hl29-7I607lqQjWsOXYFvgdU3PIIuNCPRr77K14Uka69JD7s7N95DXC_7ayPqQZMdBOrMg_mOCs1UCy3hCS5TWzh$ >). We will extend NEMAR/NSG to allow users to visualize and launch computation on NEMAR data from Matlab/EEGLAB or Python sessions running on Jupyter Notebooks.

Enhance user support and seek NEM archive harmonization. We will support both research user and tool developer communities by providing web-hosted video tutorials and organizing workshops and hackathons. We will work with the Canadian EEGNet.org team and any others towards NEM data archive federation to make ever larger collections of analysis-ready NEM data available for research and development of new NEM data applications.

Those of you who received and responded to our first-round call for letters of support nearly 5 years ago were importantly helpful in securing the interest of NIMH in this effort. Now it will be still more important that we demonstrate community support – as broad as possible – to the NIH review panel in the form of letters of support indicating: 

Enthusiasm for the idea of an active data plus tools resource for moving analysis of existing and new EEG/MEG/iEEG data into the realm of intensive and/or large data analyses; 

And/or

Interest in performing data mining research on the archived wealth of human EEG/MEG/iEEG data accumulating in NEMAR; 

Optionally

Interest in musing the NEMAR/NSG resource for in-depth analysis of your own data;

Interest in contributing your own data to the OpenNeuro/NEMAR archive.



We attach a template text for a letterhead letter of support and interest that we will need to receive by email before or on July 7 to attach to our NEMAR proposal. We would happily answer any questions you may have before (or after). Please send your letter to adelorme at ucsd.edu <mailto:adelorme at ucsd.edu>.


Arnaud Delorme (SCCN, UCSD)

Scott Makeig (SCCN,UCSD)

Amit Majumdar (SDSC, UCSD)  







Template text for letters of interest and support (preferably on letterhead):


TEMPLATE - PLEASE ALTER TO EXPRESS YOUR INTERESTS OR REMOVE SECTIONS THAT DO NOT APPLY                           [DATE]


Dear Drs. Makeig, Delorme, and Majumdar, 


I am writing to express my [XXX] support for your proposed continuation project to maintain and enhance your NEMAR.org data archive and active data processing resource for publicly shared EEG, MEG, and intracranial (iEEG) data (plus associated data streams).

The time has now arrived for public NIH support of more in-depth processing of the growing mass of invaluable data on brain dynamic processes subserving human thought and action shared via OpenNeuro and NEMAR. If funded and when implemented, I look forward to participating in the project by:

Exploring, with my lab and students, the NEMAR datasets using the current and proposed NEMAR data quality reporting and visualization tools.
[Using BIDS tools to format data in my laboratory]
[Contributing data under my control to the OpenNeuro/NEMAR archive for public use. These data comprise [EEG, MEG, iEEG] data sets from at least [N] studies from [ZZZ] participants. Some of these studies are financed by NIH [REF].]

I look forward to working with NEMAR project scientists and staff to build, make available, and use a world-leading archive and active processing resource for human electromagnetic brain data and associated data streams. 

Please keep me informed of the progress of the NEMAR proposal and how and when I may participate.


Sincerely,

[name, title]
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