OSCTR-OUHSC PROFILES RESEARCH NETWORKING SOFTWARE IS NOW FUNCTIONAL

Because of the highly collaborative nature of clinical and translational research, effective networking is essential to our campus community. After identifying a dramatic need for a more modernize networking tool, we began a pilot test of the Profiles Research Networking Software developed by Harvard Catalyst.  The OUHSC Profiles Research Networking site is now accessible for all OSCTR investigators (http://profiles.ouhsc.edu). Profiles Research Networking Software has replaced FIND (Faculty Information and Networking Directory) at OUHSC.  The Profiles software uses a disambiguation engine to automatic retrieve data from PubMed to establish a basic profile for each investigator. This means investigators will have a basic profile with their faculty information, publications from PubMed, and research keywords automatically loaded into Profiles.  Investigators or their designated proxies can then personalize their profiles with an overview of their research interests, education and awards, and research funding. We are working to integrate additional functionalities, including mentoring availability and areas to display links and content related to your research. In addition to searching by keyword, name, or affiliation, the software allows investigators to identify potential collaborators by visualizing co-author networks, mapping frequent collaborators, and evaluating the progression of research themes over time. Other states have used similar services for connecting researchers across all state universities, and we are currently working with leaders to expand the Profiles Research Networking site to more investigators in the state. At launch in June 2017, the site contained the profiles for 1,940 researchers in the state, including 1,666 OUHSC faculty, 30 OMRF members, and 240 health-related researchers from the Norman campus. Long-term goals of this project include linkage to DIRECT2Experts to better connect our state's research community to potential collaborators across the Unites States. We will have online tutorials and will hold information sessions to show faculty how to modify their profiles and to utilize the system to search for collaborators. Implementation of OUHSC Profiles was funded by the Oklahoma Shared Clinical and Translational Resources (OSCTR) award (NIH U54GM104938).