PROMETHEUS Retreat Highlights — January 30, 2026

We were honored to represent the Open Commons Consortium (OCC), a division of the Center for Computational Science Research (CCSR), alongside our partners at the University of Chicago’s Center for Translational Data Science at the Prometheus Retreat in Washington, DC on January 30, 2026—an engaging, forward-looking event dedicated to advancing data-driven research addressing gaps in scientific studies that link any potential exposures to the impact on a service member’s health and future potential for development of conditions such as cancers.

Our Director, Dr. Robert Grossman, shared key updates on the MC2DP Portal, including its evolving role in enabling secure, scalable, and user-friendly access to data and analytics, as well as an overview of platform governance to ensure responsible, consistent, and sustainable operations. Dr. Grossman also provided a preview of the upcoming AI Commons, explaining how Gen3 is adding AI capabilities to further accelerate research, collaboration, and innovation across the community.

The retreat featured a live demonstration of workspace features presented by Dr. Aarti Venkat (Assistant Professor, CTDS), showcasing functionalities designed to streamline workflows and improve the user experience. Additionally, our Director of Data Science Dr. Danne Elbers walked attendees through the portal access features, demonstrating how users can easily request access to begin working within the platform.

The PROMETHEUS Retreat fostered valuable discussions and knowledge-sharing, reinforcing our commitment to building robust, well-governed, and future-ready research infrastructure.

Prometheus Retreat 2025: A Step Forward in Collaborative Cancer Research

Open Commons consortium (OCC) a division of the Center for Computational Science Research Inc (CCSR), in collaboration with our partner, Center for Translational Data Science at the University of Chicago were honored to participate in the recent Prometheus Retreat held on July 25, 2025 in Washington DC, where our Director, Robert Grossman, presented the work our team has contributed to the Murtha Cancer Center Data Platform (MC2DP).

We were also thrilled to have Danne Elbers, our Director of Data Science, featured on the Data Panel, where she joined an insightful discussion on the future of data sharing, integration, and analysis across the cancer and exposures research ecosystem.

MC2DP represents a powerful data and compute data mesh developed to support collaborative research across the Prometheus Network. Built on Gen3 data mesh infrastructure, the platform enables secure, scalable, and federated access to diverse datasets used by Working Groups and Data Analysis Teams

MC2DP integrates with a wide network of data sources, including:

  • VA Veterans Precision Oncology Data Commons (VPODC)

  • Genomic Data Commons (GDC)

  • Proteomics Data Commons (PDC)

  • The Cancer Imaging Archive (TCIA)

  • Windber DTS System

  • Metabolomics (via PNNL & Ellison)

Explore the Murtha Cancer Center Data Platform (MC2DP) here: https://mc2dp.data-commons.org/

OCC is proud to be a core contributor to this effort, advancing the Prometheus Network’s vision for data-driven cancer research through open, interoperable, and privacy-preserving platforms.

We look forward to continued collaboration with our partners in shaping the future of precision oncology.

Advancing Cancer Research Through Integrated Data: Highlights from ARDM 2025

At the 2025 ARDM Workshop, Dr. Danne Elbers, Director of Data Science at the Open Commons Consortium presented key updates on the Murtha Cancer Center Data Platform (MC2DP). The platform integrates complex data across military, veteran and civilian cohorts to better understand cancer outcomes and exposures. It enables analytics on diverse data types—from genomics to imaging—within a secure, collaborative framework. Built on Gen3 and FAIR data principles, MC2DP reconnects patient data from different sources to support research that directly impacts care. The initiative reflects a powerful partnership between VA, DOD, NCI, academia, and industry

New Addition to the Open Commons Consortium Team!

We are excited to welcome Danne Elbers to the Open Commons Consortium team!

As an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Boston University and Associate Director of Informatics for Data Engineering at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Danne brings extensive expertise and a deep commitment to advancing data science.

We are honored to have her on our team and look forward to driving meaningful innovations in #DataScience together.

#DataSharingMakesYouFriends

OCC - Krumware Partnership

Krumware and the Open Commons Consortium (OCC) team will start working together on February 1st, 2025, to better support the OCC mission! This partnership will drive security, innovation, and a better user experience across our Data Meshes and Data Commons. We look forward to all the great things we’ll accomplish as one team. Welcome aboard, Krumware—let’s make it happen!"

Open Commons Consortium Joins AWS Marketplace: Empowering Innovation with Gen3

We’re thrilled to announce that Open Commons Consortium (OCC) is now officially available on the AWSMarketplace

Explore our offerings here: AWS Marketplace Profile (AWS account login required to discover the services)

This milestone reflects our dedication to delivering innovative solutions through the open-source Gen3 Platform .

Gen3 is designed to build and support data commons and data meshes, fostering healthy data ecosystems. It enables seamless interoperation and the creation of cloud-based resources like data commons and analysis workspaces.

A heartfelt thank you to our amazing team—Robert Grossman, Plamen Martinov, and partners Arif Khan, Sarah Fox-Silvia, and the Amazon team—for making this achievement possible. Together, we’re shaping the future of data!

Walder Foundation B3 Grant: Phase 2 Completed

The Walder Foundation's Boosters, Breakthroughs, and Biorepositories (B3) grant highlights the power of multi-university collaboration and biorepository synergy. Under this grant, the Open Commons Consortium (OCC), in partnership with Rush University Medical Center and Loyola Medical Center, successfully completed a initiative led by Jeffrey Schneider.

Leveraging Gen3 Platform services, including the Discovery Portal, the team developed a platform to manage virtual COVID-19 biobank metadata effectively. The platform enables seamless management and access to biobank sample metadata between Rush and Loyola Medical Centers, making it easily searchable and accessible to the COVID-19 research community.

The project was executed in two phases:

  • Phase 1: The Initial work stream involved developing a Proof of Concept using the Chicagoland Region Data Commons Discovery Portal in the Quality Assurance (QA) environment.

  • Phase 2: The secondary work stream focused on enhancing the Proof of Concept with advanced features and migrating the platform to the Chicagoland Regional Data Commons production environment.

The fully deployed platform is now accessible to researchers and partners, streamlining collaboration and enabling biorepository data integration with the Joint Loyola-Rush Biorepository.

This achievement marks a significant step in enhancing accessibility and collaboration within the research community, demonstrating the transformative potential of collective innovation

PROMETHEUS Re-Treat: PDP Launch

We were thrilled to participate in the PROMETHEUS Re-Treat on July 26th in Washington DC, where our Director, Robert Grossman, represented us for the launch of the Prometheus Data Platform (PDP 1.0). This project, led by the Open Commons Consortium, a division of the Center for Computational Science Research Inc (CCSR), in collaboration with our partner, The Center for Translational Data Science at the University of Chicago, marks a significant milestone. Kudos to both teams for their hard work bringing the PDP to life!

PROMETHEUS, which stands for PROject for Military Exposures and Toxin History Evaluation in US Service Members, aims to discover and study advanced precision technologies to prevent, detect early, and enhance treatments for cancers potentially arising from environmental contaminants and toxin hazards faced by military service members and veterans.

Our vision is to integrate federal scientific platforms with public-private innovators to reveal the impact of service-related exposures to environmental contaminants and toxin hazards, and to develop prevention and early detection approaches, as well as advanced treatments for cancers arising from these exposures.

The PDP includes the BLOODPAC Data Commons and the Veterans Precision Oncology Data Commons (VPODC). It also interoperates with the NCI Genomics Data Commons (GDC), Proteomic Data Commons (PDC), and The Cancer Imaging Data Commons (TCIA), all of which have APIs enabling seamless integration with the PDP. These integrations support Apollo data.

The PDP not only provides an environment for PROMETHEUS researchers but also offers a fit-for-purpose governance structure in support of the White House Cancer Moonshot 2.0 data-sharing principles.

Explore the Prometheus Data Platform version 1.0 (PDP) here: PDP 1.0.

This is just the beginning!

Data submission - Perspectives and solutions from different Gen3 systems

Gen3 data submission can be complex and will vary from project to project. The specifics will depend on the data model, data type, use of graph-model and/or metadata service, centrally managed vs user driven, and other project-specific requirements. At this event a range of Gen3 operators showcased on how their projects approach the topic of data submission and how they have managed this process. The event included the following presentations and speakers:

  • Data Modelling in Gen3 - Joshua Harris, Research Data Manager, Australian BioCommons

  • Data submission into the Aotearoa Genomic Data Repository - Nathalie Giraudon, New Zealand eScience Infrastructure (NeSI)

  • COVID-19 Data: 7 Million Records in PRC - Plamen Martinov, Mikisha Patel, Urvi Sheth Open Commons Consortium

  • MIDRC: Ingesting Medical Images from Multiple Contributors - Chris Meyer, Center for Translational Data Science, University of Chicago

  • g3t: Gen3 Tracker – User Driven Submissions - Liam Beckman, Oregon Health and Science University

The recorded session video is available, providing valuable insights and key takeaways from the event.

OCC and Krumware Teamed Up for Gen3 Implementation Tutorial

OCC collaborated with the Krumware team to demo how to implement Gen3 using Helm charts in AWS from start to finish.

Helm, a tool designed for streamlined installation and management of Kubernetes applications, facilitates the automated deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. By leveraging Helm, you'll find the process of creating, configuring, and maintaining your personalized Gen3 Data Commons infrastructure significantly simplified.

Tutorial Highlights

  • Introduction to Gen3 Data Commons: Gain an understanding of the Gen3 ecosystem.

  • Prerequisites to Configure Helm Charts in AWS: Learn what is needed to get started.

  • Step-by-Step Demonstration: Implementing Gen3 using Helm charts in AWS with detailed guidance.

  • Setting Up AWS Account and Gen3 Cloud-Automation Locally: Get permissions and set up your local environment.

  • Spin Up VPC: Learn to create and configure a Virtual Private Cloud.

  • Spin Up EKS: Deploy and manage Kubernetes clusters with Amazon EKS.

  • Configuring Helm Charts: Implement Gen3 with precise configurations.