THIS BLOG IS ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN AUDIO CAST

When I was a kid, we were always told to share our toys. It was a good way of teaching children the importance of playing nice with the other kids and avoiding conflicts.

Those same virtues apply to science. Sharing data, knowledge and ideas doesn’t just create a sense of community. It also helps increase the odds that scientists can build on the knowledge gained by others to advance their own work, and the field as a whole.

That’s why advancing world class science through data sharing is one of the big goals in CIRM’s new Strategic Plan. There’s a very practical reason why this is needed. Although most scientists today fully appreciate and acknowledge the importance of data sharing, many still resist the idea. This is partly for competitive reasons: the researchers want to publish their findings first and take the credit.

But being first isn’t just about ego. It is also crucial in getting promotions, being invited to prestigious meetings, winning awards, and in some cases, getting the attention of biopharma. So, there are built-in incentives to avoiding data sharing.

That’s unfortunate because scientific progress is often dependent on collaboration and building upon the work of other researchers.

CIRM’s goal is to break down those barriers and make it easier to share data. We will do that by building what are called “knowledge networks.” These networks will streamline data sharing from CIRM-funded projects and combine that with research data from other organizations, publishers and California academic institutions. We want to create incentives for scientists to share their data, rather than keep it private.

We are going to start by creating a knowledge network for research targeting the brain and spinal cord. We hope this will have an impact on studying everything from stroke and Alzheimer’s to Parkinson’s and psychiatric disorders. The network will eventually cover all aspects of research—from the most basic science to clinical trials—because knowledge gained in one area can help influence research done in another.

To kick start this network, CIRM will partner with other funding agencies, disease foundations and research institutions to enable scientists to have access to this data such that data from one platform can be used to analyze data from another platform. This will amplify the power of data analysis and allow researchers to build upon the work of others rather than repeat already existing research.

As one of our Board members, Dr. Keith Yamamoto said in our Strategic Plan, “Making such data sharing and analysis across CIRM projects operational and widely accessible would leverage CIRM investments, serving the biomedical research enterprise broadly.”

It’s good for science, but ultimately and more importantly, it’s good for all of us because it will speed up the development of new approaches and new therapies for a wide range of diseases and disorders.

Visit this page to learn more about CIRM’s new 5-year Strategic Plan and stay tuned as we share updates on our 5-year goals here on The Stem Cellar.