Within the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the Center for Collaborative Research includes two global collaboration organizations with the goal of creating an integrated, collaborative and flexible research structure for identifying HIV-vaccine candidates and conducting clinical HIV/AIDS trials.

The Collaboration for AIDS Vaccine Discovery (CAVD) program brings together investigators from over 90 institutions in 19 countries to design and evaluate promising HIV-vaccine candidates. The HIV/AIDS Network Coordination (HANC) program supports the science and operations of clinical trial networks by increasing efficiency and resource-sharing through coordination of critical activities. The Center for Collaborative Research was looking for guidance in growing shared service capabilities in terms of technology, processes and people.

Over a 15 month period we worked with the CCR team to design and deploy a variety of ECM, collaboration and process automation solutions:

• Public-facing website and a private collaboration portal.
• Solution to collect summary proficiency test report data from QA partners in laboratories around the world, allowing the HANC networks to better track proficiency-testing status, quickly identify and communicate problems, coordinate responses and record corrective action and resolution.
• Information tracking system to collect and manage global leukopheresis donor information in a central location allowing for greater collaboration amongst the consortium of immune testing laboratories within the top HIV vaccine pre-clinical and clinical trials networks.
• Portal-based infrastructure to inventory portal solutions and assets and foster collaboration between portal administrators around the globe. Portal administrators are able to browse others’ portal solutions that they might also want to employ, or look for a solution to help their portal users with a particular need.
• SharePoint template-based solution to facilitate and document the review and approval of ~30 scientific databases. This collaborative workspace uses out-of-the-box functionality: administrators receive feedback from experts on a series of questions maintaining a transparent and real-time history of all discussions and decisions.
• Central management system for an international network of highly collaborative research consortia to help address research priorities in the discovery and development of HIV/AIDS vaccine candidates. AIDS Vaccine Discovery Centers around the world (part of the CAVD program) will leverage the solution for proposing new studies to CAVD Central Service Facilities and CCR.
• Single sign-on solution to support common users between a SharePoint 2007 portal and an open source portal providing an integrated user experience between the two web platforms - with zero coding for the MOSS portal.
• Password and account management tools integrated into the portals to provide a self-service capability, freeing CCR resources to provide higher-value services to collaborators.
• Customized search using taxonomy derived from analysis of users' business process

Our client made a signficant contribution to the effectiveness of research teams teams and the efficiency of several operational processes.