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Clinical & Translational Science Institute / Services and Support / Bio-Lab Informatics System

Bio-Lab Informatics System

BLIS logo white beaker icon with blue liquid in a white circle

The Bio-Lab Informatics System (BLIS) is a comprehensive, web-based data management system developed to store, integrate, analyze, and securely share biomedical research data. BLIS is built using the open-source LabKey Server which provides a number of experiment modules for managing laboratory assay workflows and flexible architecture for customization. 

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Features

The BLIS study module serves as a data portal to integrate clinical, specimen and laboratory results. A team comprised of professional software developers, bioinformaticians and biostatisticians within the Research Data Integration and Analytics Group extend BLIS to meet specific project and assay workflow requirements. We partner with Genomics Research Center and the Center for Integrated Research Computing to implement workflows for managing transcriptomics and microbiome data. BLIS is a good fit for research projects collecting and analyzing multiple biological samples from human subjects or animal models.

Experiment and multi-step workflow modules

  • Biospecimen and freezer inventory data management
  • Flow Cytometry
  • Luminex®
  • ELISpot
  • ELISA
  • Nab
  • Taqan Array Card® (rtPCR)
  • Bioanalyzer
  • High-throughput sequencing (including genomics, gene expression and microbiome)
  • Proteomics
  • Histology

Additional Features

  • Charting tools enable users to create their own data plots and charts without needing to leave BLIS.
  • Integrates with REDCap and other applications for clinical data capture
  • Integrates specimen inventory records (BLIS, spreadsheets to track specimens and metadata, and create shipping requests and manifests
  • Application Programming Interface (API) to query data for analysis in external tools and languages including R, SAS, Python, Perl, and Java
  • Robust and flexible role and group based access controls
  • User-defined wiki pages to support research team collaboration
  • Issue trackers for data and workflow discrepancies and remediation
  • HIPAA and FISMA compliant

Get Started

To use BLIS, users will need to be on the URMC VPN and have an active URMC AD account.

The Research Data Integration and Analytics group is happy to collaborate with you to support comprehensive data management needs of your project. Please direct inquiries to Jeanne Holden-Wiltse, UR CTSI Informatics Director.

Get Training

To learn more about LabKey, demonstration and tutorial videos are currently available at LabKey Support.