K-CORE: Curation and Knowledge Management for SPARC

This proposal outlines plans for the creation of K-CORE, a new core for SPARC that will provide curation of SPARC datasets, knowledge management and services for the SPARC Knowledge Graph. The latter is a semantic store that combines information on SPARC datasets annotated according to the SPARC Minimal Information Standard (MIS) with functional and anatomical topologically based connectivity knowledge for the autonomic nervous system (ANS). Included in the ANS are the sympathetic, parasympathetic and enteric nervous systems, with reference to sensory and motor pathways as necessary. Technology development in SPARC is provided by the SPARC Data and Resource Center (DRC), currently comprising DAT-CORE, which provisions the data platform, MAP-CORE, which develops 2 and 3D mapping tools and a map-based GUI, and SIM-CORE which fields the simulation platform. To date, the curation and knowledge management functions have been conducted under the purview of MAP-CORE, led by Dr. Peter Hunter at the Auckland Bioinformatics Institute with a subcontract to UCSD. However, these services are sufficiently broad and cross cutting that they should be managed through a separate core. The K-CORE team has been providing curation and knowledge management services for SPARC since 2018 and thus are deeply familiar with the project.